Linguist, lexicographer, writer, editor, broadcaster

Why Publishing Should be Sending Fruit Baskets to Google

Boing Boing is one of the most-linked and most-read web sites on the Internet and Cory Doctorow is a self-promoting hype machine (but at least his work is usually worth the hype, unlike, oh, millions of other self-promoting hype machines), but his post on how Google Print works, its legality, and why publishing should abandon its complaints and lawsuits, is spot on. He nails the subject with nine-pennies right to the bookstore door.

Side note: Does publishing have a New York street designation like “Wall Street” for the finance industry or “Madison Avenue” for advertising? You could try “Fifth Avenue,” I guess, but to me the image of Fifth Avenue is more about tony shops and tourists walking around after hours during summer wondering why everything’s closed. Fourth Avenue used to be a good choice, when below 14th Street it was Book Row, but the book shops are gone now.

(Thanks to Erin for the heads-up on the Boing Boing piece.)

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Grant Barrett