archive

The rise of the digital book

The Department of Justice says the Google Books deal won't fly. Will the Google Books juggernaut keep rolling, and  should it? It may be too late if and when we find out. Google stands to be the single repository for millions of the world's books, but critics worry about monopoly and profit motives, and what it means for readers' privacy (and more on Google CEO Eric Schmidt). A debate: Is the Google Books settlement progressive or not? Google Books' archenemy the Open Book Alliance formally launches. Geoffrey Nunberg on why Google's Book Search is a disaster for scholars. What's worth downloading on Google Books? From FT, is the rise of the digital book a sign that the codex, in its paper-and-print form, is on its death bed, or merely adapting to the times? The Kindle Problem: Successful products need to offer great experience or great convenience — Amazon’s e-reader falls short on both. Everyone has an opinion on the Kindle vs. print, but what if you didn't have a choice? The printed word has always had an Achilles heel — factual mistakes; can the electronic reader help? Welcome to the library — say goodbye to the books. In the world of books, September is the cruellest month. Redactor Agonistes: Daniel Menaker on a list of mostly non-arithmetical observations about mainstream publishing. Book publishing is in trouble? You wouldn’t know it from the pile of new language books. Welcome to the Weird Books Room: Abebooks has done a great service to connoisseurs of the bizarre. How much harm does a bad book cover do?