Re: Libraries criticized for role in Google Book Search

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>]

I don't mean to quibble, but Google is not a free service. I am 
not referring to Google's many offerings in the corporate sector 
but to the core search business.  The service is paid for by 
advertisers.  It is not free to them.  It appears to be free to 
end-users, but these users are selling something whose value they 
usually don't fully appreciate:  their attention. If we put a 
price on our attention (as we should), we would look askance at 
all these advertising-supported media, of which Google is but 
one.  How much is your attention worth?  A lawyer may charge 
$400/hour.  When he or she uses Google and is presented with 
advertisements, is that a good deal?

Joe Esposito

----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Bridges" <kbridges@uvm.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>; <richards1000@comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 4:22 PM
Subject: RE: Libraries criticized for role in Google Book Search

> Google is currently a free service.  This situation with Google 
> Books is a slippery slope that, ultimately, could end up with 
> Google becoming entirely a subscription service. There's 
> nothing to stop them from simply blocking access one day to all 
> .edu domains and starting to charge a fee.
>
> Nothing wrong with that, it's just business, but we need to 
> keep that in mind since it has serious implications for library 
> budgets. Google is not in business for altruistic reasons. It 
> exists to maximize shareholder value -- just like any other 
> large corporation.
>
> Karl Bridges
> University of Vermont