12-07-2010, 01:23 AM | #76 | |
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Besides, judging by the quality of a few of the "free" materials, I have no problems paying for properly edited ebooks for a "reasonable" fee (more like $2-3). |
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12-07-2010, 07:51 AM | #77 | |
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After spending years scanning billions of books, you'd think Google would offer a vastly larger inventory of out of print / offbeat ebooks. I've found a few unusual ebooks, but so far it's just not that different from what you can get at Kindle or other ebook-sellers. |
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12-07-2010, 08:25 AM | #78 |
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What Google is doing is riding roughshod over copyright law. Perhaps I should start punching people in the face when I feel like it and, if they try to get the Police involved, inform them that they haven't 'opted out' of my face-punching project.
There are many reasons why a book may be out of print, the assumption of publishing rights by Google is a moral travesty. The author is the default copyright owner NOT Google! |
12-07-2010, 09:15 AM | #79 | |
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12-07-2010, 09:31 AM | #80 |
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Yeah, it's called negotiating a contract - it's done in all the best countries.
Certainly nothing wrong with proposing a general contract to all publishers and inviting replies. The assumption that you can go ahead without approval is monstrous. YOU apply to the copyright holder for approval to publish - THEY don't have to apply to you to stop publication. Davie. |
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12-07-2010, 10:01 AM | #81 | |
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12-07-2010, 11:18 AM | #82 | |
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Actually, according to this article 2 of the 3 million are free. Yes, most of them have OCR errors, but I've been reading free Google Books since they launched, and I've paid for books elsewhere that were worse. Now if the books you paid for are riddled with errors, then you have a right to complain. The free books, IMHO, come under the heading of 'gift horse.' As for paying for PD books, I think most people learn after awhile. |
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12-07-2010, 01:20 PM | #83 |
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THREE POINTS
1. Amazon has announced a new web app It looks like Google's entry into the ebook market has had one nice effect. Amazon has announced that in January they will be revealing a web app that allows viewing of their books with just a web browser. Personally I prefer the Kindle, but I could see where this would be useful for books with color images. 2. Google's bookstore sucks I have to say I'm not impressed with the Google approach to ebooks. I won't buy a book that I can't store on my own device. I read on the plane. I also don't trust companies and feel safer with a physical copy. Additionally, I have enjoyed Google full view PD books but have noticed that sometimes the quality seems to be lacking. I much prefer the quality of Amazon ebooks compared to the PD books on Google. Plus, Amazon has worked through some issues that Google hasn't yet addressed, e.g. Collections (i.e. folders), inline dictionary support, etc. I just can't see myself buying much or any books from Google. 3. Google has one advantage The only advantage Google has over their competitors is all those scanned books that are still in copyright but not in print. These are the only books I would be interested in buying from Google. However, I also believe that Google is violating copyright laws in trying to make these books available. I do think their solution sounds reasonable (a generous royalty is put into a fund that will pay authors). However, I don't think a corporation, publishers, or the court should impose this type of system. I believe that is the responisbility of Congress -- and not doing so is resulting in untold loss of our cultural heritage. These orphaned books should be made available. Last edited by DavidI; 12-07-2010 at 01:22 PM. |
12-07-2010, 02:37 PM | #84 |
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DavidI,
Addressing point number two - you can download most books as either an ePub or a PDF. The one's you can't are clearly labeled before you buy. As to the quality/quantity issue - I have other places I can go for quality (although I've been unpleasantly surprised even there a time or two), but I do appreciate Google's 'quantity' approach. The fact that I can get a vast array of PD books that are not available anywhere else I think is quite valuable. |
12-07-2010, 05:15 PM | #85 | |
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Formatting is good, I have not seen any OCR artifacts, and it has both a linked TOC and NCX TOC. In addition to being able to read it on any ADE-enabled reader or app, I'm able to read it pleasantly with my Kindle's web browser, a feature unique to Google at this point (there's Ibis Reader, but it's not as usable and does not support DRM). Obviously one book is not representative of the whole, but it is representative of the sort of value proposition I would be looking for. Last edited by tomsem; 12-07-2010 at 05:17 PM. |
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12-07-2010, 05:50 PM | #86 |
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12-07-2010, 06:09 PM | #87 |
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12-09-2010, 12:07 PM | #88 | |
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Possible fix
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12-09-2010, 01:14 PM | #89 | |
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Scanning is easy & quick (relatively) and can be done in bulk; finding & contacting copyright owners is slow and separate and requires tracking progress individually for each title. Removing books by request is easy; getting permission before starting is hard. And I think there's no way they're going to get the agreement signed off in its current opt-out status. Or if they did, it'd immediately get bumped to a higher court, because it really does directly clash with the basic system of how copyright works. All that work of scanning out-of-print works will be (mostly) wasted (it'll help with search abilities, but it won't make them real money)... and if they want to change that, they'll need to turn their attentions to changing copyright law. Which I'm much in favor of; I'd love Google to start pushing for a coherent & useful orphan works policy, and establish standards for what counts as a reasonable search for copyright owners. Google has the resources to make that possible; I'd love to see them work *with* the EFF to get us better copyright laws and enforcement policies. |
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12-09-2010, 02:26 PM | #90 | |
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It really soured me on Google's bookstore. I can't see buying from them again. |
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