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I believe this new Google tool made its debut today.
I wonder what impact this will have on the industry. Any opinions?
http://print.google.com/
I wonder what impact this will have on the industry. Any opinions?
http://print.google.com/
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The cat spread its wings and flew high into the air, hovering to keep pace with them as they moved cautiously toward the city. Then, as they climbed over the rubble of what had once been a gateway and began to make their way through piles of weed-grown masonry, the cat flew to the squat building with the yellow dome upon its roof. It flew twice around the dome and then came back to settle on Jhary's shoulder. - The King of the Swords -
I'm really not sure how this is much different in essence from the Project Gutenberg scheme - http://www.gutenberg.org - which also makes copyright-free books available as e-books. Perhaps the most significant difference (aiui) is the Google is scanning their books rather than having teams of volunteers (?) who type them out manually.
Personally I tend to think that books which are out of copyright ought to be made available to the widest possible audience, although I daresay there are a number of publishers who rely on cheap reprints of said books to ease their cash flows and as such might not be too happy to see things like Google Books flourish. :?_"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
_For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
_And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
_He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."Comment
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Those links don't seem to be working. Have people also checked out Google-earth? If anyone's hacked off with Google, though, and don't want their searches monitored, may I recommend http://www.scroogle.org/?
\"...an ape reft of his tail, and grown rusty at climbing, who yet feels himself to be a symbol and the frail representative of Omnipotence in a place that is not home.\" James Branch CabellComment
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Heh, now that Berry's link's working - at first I took the 'no Michael Moorcock found' message as being the point of Berry's post :oops: - I have to say that Google Print does look very interesting. It's certainly throwing up a lot more stuff than I thought it would based on the press reports I've been reading today.Originally posted by Mikey_C
Originally posted by news.bbc.co.uk_"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
_For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
_And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
_He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."Comment
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so we get snippets of copyrighted books and entire e-books of stuff that's gone out of copyright.
I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather buy the book and hold it in my hands. Even buying golden moldy oldies from libraries or yard sales don't make me feel as *weird* as this whole e-book thing.
But that's just me. Low tech. *blows out candle*Comment
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I'm with you. To me, books also have aesthetic value as objects. I like to hold them and touch them and smell them (alright, maybe I don't smell them :oops:).Originally posted by Poetgrrl
Excuse me while I adjust my abacus-typewriter hybrid that passes as a computer...
Seriously, though, If I use academic work from online sources, I almost always print out a copy. My mind works with it far better that way.Comment
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I find reading E-books on a Palm Tungsten E not too unpleasant. :)
I get most of mine from the Gutenberg Project though.
A much more worthy and hassle free source of out of copyright books.
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I think there's two things here. First, a book as a physical object has a quality that eBooks can't begin to approach, a tactile-ness if you like that appeals to the physical senses as well as the intellectual. But second, eBooks allow for the easy distribution of material that many people may not normally be able to access*. The free distribution of ideas and information in the electronic era means that we can each of us have a virtual 'Library of Alexandria' in our own homes.Originally posted by Poetgrrl
So, while I like having books to hold and read, I'm more interested in having access to electronic documents that would otherwise be beyond my purview.
*See here for a prime example of what I mean: [broken link]:)Last edited by Rothgo; 04-23-2010, 04:24 AM._"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
_For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
_And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
_He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."Comment
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Sadly, I don't get anything, as I block the evil Google Cookie (expires 2038) :twisted:Originally posted by Poetgrrl
http://www.google-watch.org/gcook.html
I'll survive.
\"...an ape reft of his tail, and grown rusty at climbing, who yet feels himself to be a symbol and the frail representative of Omnipotence in a place that is not home.\" James Branch CabellComment
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It's worth noting that that scan comes from a college library.Originally posted by demos99Last edited by Rothgo; 04-23-2010, 04:25 AM.The cat spread its wings and flew high into the air, hovering to keep pace with them as they moved cautiously toward the city. Then, as they climbed over the rubble of what had once been a gateway and began to make their way through piles of weed-grown masonry, the cat flew to the squat building with the yellow dome upon its roof. It flew twice around the dome and then came back to settle on Jhary's shoulder. - The King of the SwordsComment
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General experience seems to be that the more ways you can get a book, including free (say, via TV or radio) the more sales are stimulated. A large enough percentage of us always seem to want to own the book and the more exposure the book gets, the more that percentage rises. There must be some cases where this isn't true, but generally this is borne out by statistics.Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in Europe:
The Whispering Swarm: Book One of the Sanctuary of the White Friars - The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction
Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles - Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - Modem Times 2.0 - The Sunday Books - The Sundered Worlds
Pre-order or Buy my latest titles in the USA:
The Laughter of Carthage - Byzantium Endures - London Peculiar and Other Nonfiction - The Sunday Books - Doctor Who: The Coming of the Terraphiles
Kizuna: Fiction for Japan - The Sundered Worlds - The Winds of Limbo - Modem Times 2.0 - Elric: Swords and RosesComment
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Now Microsoft are getting in on the act as well:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4402442.stm
Microsoft scans British Library
About 100,000 books in the British Library are going to be scanned and put online by software giant Microsoft. The books, which are out of copyright, will be digitised from 2006 and put online as part of Microsoft's book search service next year.
Microsoft is already working with the Open Content Alliance (OCA), set up by the Internet Archive, to put an initial 150,000 works online._"For an eternity Allard was alone in an icy limbo where all the colours were bright and sharp and comfortless.
_For another eternity Allard swam through seas without end, all green and cool and deep, where distorted creatures drifted, sometimes attacking him.
_And then, at last, he had reached the real world – the world he had created, where he was God and could create or destroy whatever he wished.
_He was supremely powerful. He told planets to destroy themselves, and they did. He created suns. Beautiful women flocked to be his. Of all men, he was the mightiest. Of all gods, he was the greatest."Comment
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The beauty of e-texts lies in the fact that a lot of the material on Gutenburg or Black Mask Online http://www.blackmask.com/ is simply not easily available elsewhere and is in a flexible format. (This guy -http://bogginses.blogspot.com/2005/1...s-on-line.html has it about right. You can copy the text, paste it, or parts of it, into a WP program or text editor, print it and search it. (You can probably stick it in a bottle, or hold it in your hand as well ).
I don't think on this basis that Google Print is going to be as useful, even if it is prettier.Comment
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'Course, the problem with a 'flexible' format is that it is also modifiable by end-users. "Oh, that article didn't prove your point? Well, just make some changes. They won't be noticed, or if they are, they won't be until it's too late...."Originally posted by Smelfungus
But it might be less easy to 'mess with.' If you've ever had your statements on the Net manipulated (I did, once), it's an important consideration.I don't think on this basis that Google Print is going to be as useful, even if it is prettier.Comment
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