It sounds like the article is giving Google a hard time:
Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive at the Open Content Alliance, said Google may be trying to "lock up the public domain" by making proprietary copies of works whose copyrights have expired — which includes the vast majority of the world's books
They have a "license" to do anything they want with the books (that's what public domain is), and they chose to develop scanning and OCR technology to make money off of that. Why is that wrong? If another company wants that database, they should get some scanners and start scanning.
I don't know if it's only me, but I don't like reading books online.
I like the touch and smell of paper. Also, I guess there is a psychological aspect as you can feel how much you've read and how close you are to finish.
Anyways, if someone could create a device that mimics books but digital... I would buy it. Maybe a couple of OLED screen with the feel of paper?
I think buying a physical book, even if it's available for free online, denotes and reinforces a commitment to read it. For example, I could read SICP online anytime but I know I'll read it only when I buy it.
Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive at the Open Content Alliance, said Google may be trying to "lock up the public domain" by making proprietary copies of works whose copyrights have expired — which includes the vast majority of the world's books
They have a "license" to do anything they want with the books (that's what public domain is), and they chose to develop scanning and OCR technology to make money off of that. Why is that wrong? If another company wants that database, they should get some scanners and start scanning.