In Defense Of Google Digitizing Books

It would be flat out wrong to get in the way of technological breakthroughs that bring the cost of books down. And make their reaches wider. It is just that a way has to be found to ensure the authors do make money in the process.

I think Google should consider becoming a publisher itself. So you publish your book on Google property. Revenue is generated through ads. You and Google split the money made. For the reader it is free books. For the author there is money.



The library concept hit the snag. Because the money part was not handled well. On the other hand, if it is okay to read a book at some library for free, why is it not okay to read that same book in digital format?

The publishing industry feels the threat, and rightly so. Because of the web, the barrier to entry to getting published is literally zero. As to whether or not you get read is another thing. As to whether or not you make money is another thing.

I think this free for consumer revenue through ads model would work also for other media, audio and video. Prices come down to zero, but volume goes up, way up. You could have consumers all over the planet.

This model preserves the copyright thing.

• Google's online library runs into trouble Sify, India
• Google Delays Book Scanning Washington Post, United States
• Google Print put on pause Register, UK
• Google's Plan Doesn't Scan BusinessWeek
• Google suspends effort to scan copyrighted content San Jose Mercury News, United States
• Google Suspends Copyright Copies InternetNews.com
• Google Alters Plan for Searchable Library Databases New York Times, United States
• Dispute forces Google rethink on book scans Financial Times, UK
• Schmidt's Google Puts Library Project On Ice Forbes
• Google Halts Scanning of Copyrighted Books San Francisco Chronicle, United States
• Google Makes Change to Google Print/Library Scanning Program Search Engine Watch
• Google pauses indexing of copyrighted books from libraries TechWhack, India
• Google Print on Hold for 3 Months 24x7updates, India
• Google Print Halted Amid Publisher Copyright Concerns Search Engine Journal
• Google Print: Latest Inovation From Search Engine Giant Blogcritics.org
• Google Suspends Copying Protected Books; Publishers Unimpressed InternetWeek.com, NY
• Google Print Takes a Break Softpedia

Google's Corporate Transparency

It's all right there, online. Too bad they don't have this one webpage that links to all the stuff. Instead there are separate starting points.



They did not have an easy start either. Earnly stage investors were not easy coming by.

Their corporate culture to me is as fascinating as their technology. The two feed on each other.

These people, they are just starting out. They are growing to grow, grow, grow. They invent challenges for themselves. They realize their competition is with themselves.

"Despite the dotcom fever of the day, they had little interest in building a company of their own around the technology they had developed."

Google And Languages

And I am not talking Visual Basic and C++ here. I am talking Bengali and Maithili. "The goal is to make the Internet language-independent." Wow. That would be cool, real cool. Google's on it. It also is in news that it will offer something in the PayPal category. Cool. Well, folks, what about MathML! "At the UN, it doesn't matter whether you speak only French and the orator is waxing eloquent in Chinese. The Web will be the same way." Wow.

Vonage And WiMax

• Marry Vonage to WiMax, and what do you get? Internet-based cellphones? That would be a dream come true. TowerStream seems to be gearing to take the leap: "has a range of up to 30 miles and can deliver broadband at a theoretical maximum of 75 megabits per second." But so far it is just marrying broadband to phone. The mobile thing does not seem to be in the works. I guess before it happens we will have to see the emergence of citywide WiMax.
  

• Yahoo is going to compete with Google to provide ads for small blogs. I hope that means Google is going to pay out a larger proportion of what they charge advertisers.
  

• There's web services, and then there is open source web services: that's a twist.