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Here is an article which promises a new horizon in internet research. Uncle Orson has, of course, been advocating something along these lines for years. His philosophy is that allowing a certain amount of content of one of his books to be published on the web actually helps sales.
Amazon has apparently convinced a lot of people that this is the case.
Can you imagine the power of being able to read up to 20% of any book in the entire world? It is mind boggling. The biggest problem will be, I think just what it is today: finding relevant information. I think a new generation of search tools will have to be developed.
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Hmmm.... the problem I see here is that this seems to be a step along the way to Napster-for-books. After all, if people are willing to read 20% of a book online, why not 100%?
Not that this is necessarily a problem, but it will likely make book publishers uncomfortable.
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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That is so cool! I love it. I think that is way awesome! Definitely will lead to me buying more books.
Oh I am a huge eBook fan. I love them, I read them on my palm, on my desktop, or laptop. If I own the book I don't have any problem(morally) finding an electronic copy to use.
I have also purchased many eText, it is so convenient. Though they won't ever have the same feel as a real book.
quote: Hmmm.... the problem I see here is that this seems to be a step along the way to Napster-for-books. After all, if people are willing to read 20% of a book online, why not 100%?
Not that this is necessarily a problem, but it will likely make book publishers uncomfortable.
The potential is certainly there, but I think that general laziness will prevent it. The books are presented as pictures, not text. In order to copy a book you would have to capture an image of every page. I think that most folks just wouldn't invest that kind of time.
Posts: 4548 | Registered: May 2001
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I think it's a great idea. There's nothing more likely to make me go buy a book than only being able to read a part of it then having to return it to a friend or the library. I think this will have the same effect. Of course it will be extrememly irritating to me, because my book budget will be blown in a month, but eh, it'll be fun. You can never have too many books.
Posts: 349 | Registered: May 2003
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Since the whole idea is to help you find the right book to buy, it's not a threat to the actual book. Especially since you're limited to how many pages and how many books you can see in a month.
My e-book collection has gotten massive. I've been buying most of my new books that way, and replacing older ones as I can. However, I've also started replacing treasured paperbacks with more durable hardback versions.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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For the true reader, nothing can replace having the real book in your hand...nomatter how fancy your laptop or how nice your PDA is, nothing beats the wonderful smell of a book, and the feel of flipping through the pages. Satyagraha
Posts: 1986 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Anyone who hasn't done so already should go to the Baen Free Library and read Eric Flint's message on the front page. His "Prime Palaver" essays are also of interest, number 6 in particular.
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um, book piracy already exists. You can find full complete texts online if you really really want. OCR and high speed scanners make this possible.
Posts: 1621 | Registered: Oct 2001
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If you have a good library, you already have every book at your disposal. If my library doesn't have a book/cd/dvd I want, I merely tell them and they order it for the library. So making it available online right at my desktop isn't going to change things for me. What people seem to be paying for is having the book to hold in your hand, not worrying about returning it, and mutilating it however they want. Having all the books I could ever want to read doesn't help me with the vast number of choices I have to make about what I'm going to read next, or what I'm going to be interested in.
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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That's the best idea ever. They should start doing it for out-of-print books. Then maybe there would be a vast popular movement in favor of putting The Ghost of Opalina back in print.
*returns to Twelve Years of a Soldier's Life in India*
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As a literature teacher, I think it is fantastic! Maybe someday I won't need to carry all that extra weight (paper! Can you believe?) everyday when I go to work.
Well...let me cross my fingers ;-)
Posts: 1785 | Registered: Oct 2003
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