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Monopolistic concerns aside, I'd be curious to know if Google has any notion of adding Print On Demand to the access methods for out of print books, as an alternative to or extension of purchase-for-view. Then out of print books need not ever go out of print once Google has scanned them. The quality would not be as good as texts prepared for POD to begin with, but would be a 'good enough' facsimile of the original in many cases, and could generate income for publishers/authors who would otherwise not be able to justify the expense of reprinting or converting their source material to POD on their own. Bookstores could then offer these editions to their customers as well (some folks don't go online, strange to say). Online access is fine and has its advantages, but so do printed books (not that I'm buying any of them myself <g>).
POD, together with ebooks, are the future, and can eliminate 'out of print' from our vocabulary.
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