Kindle review of Free Ride: How the Internet is Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business can Fight Back

Free Ride: How the Internet is Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business can Fight Back by Robert Levine was something I recently read on my beloved kindle. Anyhow, I know its been reviewed in other places. Anyhow, here goes.
Robert Levine's book looks at the impact of companies like Google, Apple and Piratebay.
Levine discusses how these three companies (as examples) leverage there companies as platforms for music (Apple and Itunes) and Books (google and google news and google books). They do this without producing themselves, but making money via adverts or ipods.
Obviously, Bill Gates Open Letter to Hobbyists in which he wrote:-

Why is this? As the majority of hobbyists must be aware, most of you steal your software. Hardware must be paid for, but software is something to share. Who cares if the people who worked on it get paid?


More recently Pete Townsend underlined this in the John Peel lecture, when call apple 'digital vampires'.

I found the book interesting, and far removed from people like Lawrence Lessig's approach.

I found the book a pretty good read and would certainly recommend it.

CPD Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox

CPD Thing 13: Google Docs, Wikis and Dropbox. In this section of the CPD we looked at online collaboration. The use of google docs at my library has been mainly when i'm at home and working. I personally have used google docs for spreadsheet of our book collections. Whether we have the item, how many items we may have, if its available or if its available via Copac and then send to the subject librarians.

Dropbox. I do believe we have used it for our document supply team, who will put scanned and paid for photocopy items in dropbox for clients to collect.

Wiki's I have set up within my previous departments. I used these predominantly as training tools and as a personal intranet. I have used mainly wetpaint when using wiki software.

Books to read for the new year

Having mentioned previously what I had enjoyed reading previously, I thought I would say the books I hope to acquire and read. Anyhow, here goes.

1. Siva Vaidhyanathan The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry), which is out on 07.03.10. I've been looking forward to this book since he mentioned it on his blog for the book in 2007. I read with interest his previous book The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash Between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System. Siva is often (fairly, I believe) of Google, so I think it'll be a pretty good read.

2. Nicholas Carr fairly new book The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember. This book looks at the effect the Internet is having on society and on our brains.

3. Robert Darnton The Case for Books: Past, Present and Future. This I have ordered and was hoping to read whilst in Germany.

Anyhow, thats another list. Will I make the 200 post for this year? I'm still trying.......

My new t-shirt

Maybe I won't wear this to work.

To quote a sex pistols song

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night. Well it does to me now Google to launch ebook store. And I thought Google books was just so they could organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful?

Cilip event with Professor David Nicholas

Professor David Nicholas who wrote The Google Generation: implications for libraries and librarians is giving a talk on the subject at Cilip's offices on 12.05.10. I've booked early, and for those interested I suggest you do it now.

Forbes feels young learners needs libraries too

A recent articles in Forbes entitled Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google has indicated many some of us have said before. Oh well.

French look for Google alternative in digitalisation plan

(Found via here). Seems the French are not allow Google digitalise there nations artifacts, and has 'gone solo'.
Lisnews says:-

A consortium of French technology companies and government-backed I.T. research labs says it can provide the skills needed by European libraries, universities, publishers and others to scan, catalog and deliver to end-users the contents of their archives better than Google can.

he full story is here.

French Government behind Helping Universities and Libraries.......and stuffing it to Google

France's President Sarkozy has released plans unveiled a €35bn (£31bn) spending plan aimed at preparing France for the "challenges" of the future. France are looking to become the premier place to go to university in the world.
He also said:-

Sarkozy warned last week that he would not let France be "stripped" of its culture by the US giant Google's plan to scan books for publication in its online library. "This too is a question of identity," he added, in a reference to his ongoing efforts to discover France's inner self.

The German empire strikes back......against Google

Having mentioned Google's problems last week with publishers,librarians and others over its desire to build a massive digital library, German chancellor Angela Merkel has waded into the debate.

The Guardian says:-

In her weekly video podcast, before the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, Merkel appealed for more international co-operation on copyright protection and said her government opposed Google's drive to create online libraries full of scanned books.

"The German government has a clear position: copyrights have to be protected on the Internet," Merkel said, adding that there were "considerable dangers" for copyright protection online.

In a Google Planet far, far away........

(Found via here), the New York Times reports that Google, is being taken on by 'a broad array of authors, academics, librarians and public interest groups are fighting the company’s plan to create a huge digital library and bookstore.'
Siva Vaidhyanathan, a critic of Google says 'This was the first issue through which Google’s power became clearly articulated to the public.....All sorts of people — writers, researchers, librarians, academics and readers — really feel they have a stake in the world of books'.
It seems that, at long last people are noting, that in signing over our culture to Google, they maybe doing it for financial gain and not cultural gain.

When Andrew Keen meet Siva Vaidhyanatha

(Found here), Andrew Keen interviews Siva Vaidyanatha about Google, and the release of Siva's book. Worth watching if you could hear Siva.

Google O/S on the streets soon.....

(Found via Lisnews), discussed the news that Google is going to release its own O/S.  Ishush then discusses how this might be a good thing for librarians saying of this news:-

Which is cool on a number of fronts -- Being an open source system (?) it'll further the general 'biodiversity' of the web as it invites modifications. It'll knock MS hard which is good for all of our imaginations (I'm tired of walking around in a Windows frame of mind, forced to crunch my numbers and words in Windows ways).

Its going to be interesting when its released.

Andrew Keen goes OTT....

After saying that Andrew Keen is working on The Telegraph, I have seen one of his early articles, entitled Google, the toothless Big brother. Keen feels that Google has lost the power it seemed to havein 2006. He then says this:-

The truth is that the Google search-engine has no more idea of what I want to do tomorrow than a clairvoyant’s crystal ball and it is increasingly vulnerable to next-generation knowledge organisation systems like the recently released Wolfram Alpha.

Wolfram Alpha? Please? How have they impacted on Google? I think he maybe losing it.

Google tries to pacify libraries with piece meal offerings

(Via lisnews). The New York Times has an article entitled Google Book-Scanning Pact to Give Libraries Input on Price. In the article the author says:-


'In a move that could blunt some of the criticism of Google for its settlement of a lawsuit over its book-scanning project, the company signed an agreement with the University of Michigan that would give some libraries a degree of oversight over the prices Google could charge for its vast digital library.'

How can a company that has a monopoly of those market be 'blunting' its approach to libraries and users? Sorry, Google is a public company, out for a profit (as I said previously).

By the way, I do note the irony of using blogger in my Google bashing.

Google Doing evil towards librarians and authors

Ok, I'm being sensational. but Google seem to want to have the library cake, eat it, take over the building and replace it as another server farm. I've been reading Randall E. Stross Planet Google: How One Company is Transforming Our Lives. Stross points out how Lawrence Lessig felt that using snippets of books was like a card catalogue at a library and therefore fair use. Others have disagreed.
Brewster Kahle has today felt that Google are taking advantage of the libraries digitalising there books. Kahle says of google:-

The promise of a rich and democratic digital future will be hindered by monopolies. Laws and the free market can support many innovative, open approaches to lending and selling books. We need to focus on legislation to address works that are caught in copyright limbo. And we need to stop monopolies from forming so that we can create vibrant publishing environments.

We are very close to having universal access to all knowledge. Let's not stumble now.

But will anyone say anything? I am doubting it.

Google-publishers settlement

Google has settled its publishing rights row. I've not really had time to review it but two eloquent bloggers have (1,2). I'm hoping to blog over the weekend, as I was initially going for my brothers murder trial. Thanks to the great british judical service that is not, we were informed there is no trial as there is no judge.

The Google storm rages on........

I recently discussed the fall out from Google Librarian central, which Steven Cohen had pointed out, had not been written in for 1 year. Well, they have finally responded, and told us there back. But only as a newsletter.
As one critic said:-

They've been thinking about how best to communicate with us, and this apparently is best done by closing the weblog and reverting to a newsletter. Is this one of the first examples of a company dumping Web 2.0 technology in favour of 1.0?

Meredith Farkas has been defending the Google line, saying:-

Some people are up in arms because they feel that Google has some obligation to libraries beyond the contractual obligations to those they’re working with. Some people feel like librarians have been used. I must be missing something, because I don’t feel anything of the kind. Marketing is designed to make you like a company or product. Their marketing worked.

Fair point Meredith, but as a company there making a profit of everyone's culture, there not doing this so we can access information. Google have said that:-

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

ut I'd agree with another view point, that :-

Google's real mission is to organize the world around advertising.

If there doing it on the back of being the only company making books available online, they have a monopoly to decide what goes up and what gets hits. But hell, Marketing is designed to make you like a company.

An indepth look at Google library blog, or what happened

As many bloggers (1, 2, 3) and especially Steven Cohen deliberate the impact of Google Librarian Central blog and its disappearance, it seems little has been said why? Expecially from Google, but other sources. Perhaps google never got around to reading.

Firstly, Steven was not the first one to point out the demise of the blog, as it was discussed way back in January.

Secondly, Google now no longer has any competition from Microsoft in this area any longer. Therefore, the competition has disappeared in May of this year. But this does not still explain why they went 10 months without mentioning it?

In my opinion, Google was always a company and companies there are to make profits, and not to help society live a fruitful existance (unlike librarians). As Charles Arthur had pointed out :-

Google gets the book contents free, gets to sell adverts against them, and the publishers get ... what? The promise that they might sell some more books. It certainly sounds like something for nothing. And once again, it's Google that gets the something, and everyone else who is left scrabbling for the scraps.

Google should at least address this error. If they make a blog for librarians and then dump it, you'll really annoy people (as Steven has shown).

Also, it might make us look less uncritically at Google, and agree with one critic who says google is White bread for young minds

How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It

A few blogs have been discussing Steven Cohen's blog on How Google Used Librarians…and Got Away With It (1,2).Steven, David Rothman and Siva Vaidhyanathan, gicve a good platform why this has occured. I was astonished when they pointed out Google hadn't even enter a blog entry for a year.

Phil Bradley (the english voice of reason) has some salient points also on the matter. Phil, like Steven Cohen has argued we should not just use (or is it BE USED) by Google. But to use other sources.

Anyway, all too sad and all to predictable.