Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Google and the Libraries

Okay, so many of you know that Google is planning to "digitize" millions of books and offer them for free on-line.
Here is an argument in support of the project.
Here is an argument from a librarian who is worried about the project.

Many Europeans are quite upset by this project. They feel that an American company is stealing their culture for the corporate blob. Many authors are worried that they stand to lose a fortune when people no longer have to purchase their books. Of course, libraries already offer books for free.
But, again changing information from one media to another changes the information. The computer requires the user to think in a much different way (fragmented, quickly, non-linear) than the book does (linear). So, it doesn't really matter what the content is that's on-line. The user has to think and read the way that the computer requires. Have you ever noticed that nuance does not come across on-line?
Imagine reading an episode of "I Love Lucy" in book form.
So, do I support this project? A little.

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