But the vast majority of books ever written are not accessible to anyone except the most tenacious researchers at premier academic libraries. Books written after 1923 quickly disappear into a literary black hole. With rare exceptions, one can buy them only for the small number of years they are in print. After that, they are found only in a vanishing number of libraries and used book stores. As the years pass, contracts get lost and forgotten, authors and publishers disappear, the rights holders become impossible to track down.
via www.nytimes.com
The spectre of the spectre of lost books is horrifying. Google is in a better position to solve this problem then Amazon, but Google has squandered the public trust (even moreso than Apple and Microsoft, which is shocking). Sergey makes an impassioned defense of books and by proxy, of his company.
Sicha yesterday, Brin today. The news business should not be hit driven, but good job by the Times nonetheless.
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