This article tells of Googles plan to do for books what Apple's iPod has done for music, quite the challenge if you ask me. Because of Googles large user base of 380 million people the company feels that this could be just the push that electronic books needs to make it big.
Some may think that this will push people away from purchasing books in printed form. But Jens Redmer, the director of Google Book Search in Europe, thinks just the opposite. "He did not believe taking books online would mean the end of the printed world but it would give readers more options when it came to buying." This is a point that can go either way, people could use the electronic format to view a sample of the book and then decided that that is something that they would want to purchase, or many will just use the free copy and not purchase the hard copy.
This will give the reader the power to choose how they read their books. Evan Schnittman of Oxford University Press makes the comment of "Do you really want to go on holiday carrying four novels and a guide book?" With the creation of electronics books, people have the ability to take large amounts of books with them on travels without having to deal with the burden of bulk that goes along with the typical hardbound book. Put all of the text that you want on an electronic device, whether it is a Blackberry, laptop or a special eBook reader and head out on your vacations.
Google does have quite the relationship with the publishing industry though. The Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers are both sue Google with infringement on copyright, so this may be a challenge to surpass. Google will go one way and say that eBooks are the way to go and to make the information available to the public but is also saying, "We have you guys up against the wall." Hopefully Google will be able to take themselves out of the doghouse with the publishing industry and really make a name for electronic books.
Check out this article at: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2557728,00.html