Publisher Reactions To Google Print; What About Authors?. I know it's old news by now, but I wanted to throw out some predictions on how Google print will change the publishing industry. I predict that the dynamic between author and publisher will most definitely change for the betterment of the author and the detriment of small publishers. The big publishers will not see a decrease in business, but some of the smaller publishers may. Only the small publishers that concentrate on niche products will stay in business. With the advent of new printers able to print books on demand, what's to stop an author (especially a well-known author unfettered by contracts) from starting a small publishing company and sending the book into Google themselves for archiving?
Since we're on the topic of publishers and the entire book content online for perusal, imagine if textbook publishers allowed indexing of their books! University students would never have to buy a textbook again, they would just need internet access. Nevermind having the need to print, save, or copy the material -- the most frugal among us would just learn to read it onscreen. And imagine the reduction in expenses if school districts with a tight budget were able to access this material using donated or used computers with donated internet access. I realize that this does not remedy the need for good teachers, but teachers would worry less about where they could find material -- the less frivolous activities with which we burden our teachers, the more time they have to actually teach.
Posted by johnvu at October 13, 2004 11:33 PM