Re: Content Provider Problem?
Sarr Blumson (sarr@citi.umich.edu)
Mon, 19 Sep 1994 10:42:54 -0400
Tony Sanders says:
"Rob Raisch, The Internet Company" writes:
> The moment that some "kind" soul scans and places the newest Steven King
> hardcover online for the consumption of the community, all hell is going
> to break loose.
I doubt very seriously that book sales would be impacted by such an
occurence because virtually nobody really wants to read a Steven King
novel (or any other work of substantial length) online. They want it
online so it can be indexed and searched and referenced. IMHO this would
serve to increase printed sales of the material not to mention *vastly*
increasing the value of information and our society (yes, I really believe
that).
Even if a text was available online I believe that most people would go
down to the bookstore and buy a copy to read if they wanted to read it.
*Assuming* they didn't have to buy it twice (once online and once hardcopy)!
Given some improvements in display technology, and assuming that the on line
copy is _free_, I'm not sure this is true. The price of a new book that I'm
only going to read once is worth some amount of inconvenience.
I think some of us may have been missing (at least I think I have) that Rob
Raisch is in fact concerned about free redistribution, rather than simply low
cost (eg copy center) redistribution. The copy center is relatively easy to
track down, since they're charging money, but somebody who just throws a text
on a public bulletin board someplace is, at least potentially, completely
anonymous.
--------
Sarr Blumson sarr@citi.umich.edu
voice: +1 313 764 0253 FAX: +1 313 763 4434
CITI, University of Michigan, 519 W William, Ann Arbor, MI 48103-4943