Re:Can Google run a Library? (Score 1)

Library's were built so that the common folk could have access to all of those books of knowledge. Books were valuable, because that was just about the only way to get the information. Encylopedia's were a gift to bestow upon your family... I know I just ended up looking up parts of the female anatamy. But I'm sure there were other uses too. My point is... The library is (nearly) redundant in the digital age. Can you imagine a system where publishers (of books or music) would allow a digital library to buy a single copy of a published work, and lend it to the general public at no fee? The only reason it happens now is because it has historically been too difficult to copy a 900 page hardcover. ramble ramble. DRM for ebooks? an underground of plaintext fileshares? A ban on OCR? Anarchy? Profit?