Google Offering Print Versions of Online Books 147
Posted
by
timothy
from the ungreppable-format dept.
from the ungreppable-format dept.
carluva writes "Google is teaming up with On Demand Books to offer paperback versions of its collection of over 2 million public domain books. The books will be able to be printed using ODB's Espresso Book Machine, which is already in use at several book stores and libraries and can print and bind a complete, paperback copy of a 300-page book in less than 5 minutes. Google and ODB each get $1 in royalties per book sold (Google has pledged to donate its proceeds to charities and nonprofit organizations). See also ODB's PDF press release."
No thanks. (Score:2, Interesting)
Any more resolution in the prints? (Score:5, Interesting)
I wonder if they will have any more resolution than the PDFs you can get from their online service. Some of the books have technical drawings that could use ahout 50 - 75 more DPI. Does anyone know if they were scanned in a higher native resolution than what they present online?
Re:Great! (Score:3, Interesting)
When you can get a tablet that will take a decent stylus or your finger, and has e-Ink but does video, THAT is going to revolutionize reading. Right now you can get all but e-Ink, or all but Video. The XO is as close as it gets and it's no book reader. Shareable annotations are a must. Open formats, likewise. Many are close...
Re:No thanks. (Score:3, Interesting)
The big problem with the iPhone (I have one) is that the screen is very small compared to a book, and I know that it will damage my eyesite if I read on it for a prolonged period, even with larger zoomed text. (then you have a too-frequent line wrapping problem) It is not pleasurable to read books articles on the iPhone. I only do it to alleviate boredom while waiting in line for something or sitting on the john.
I have 20/20 vision and I wish to keep it that way. I retain my eyesite by taking frequent breaks from my computer screen and not sitting too close or too far from it.
Re:Any more resolution in the prints? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:print? (Score:2, Interesting)
Unless things have changed in the past five years, that's not entirely accurate. What actually happened was: for mass market paperback books (the most common type), we'd strip the covers in the store, sort the covers by publishing house (to mail back once we had enough to be worth the time), then the employees would typically pick through the coverless books and take a couple for personal enjoyment, then the rest went out with the trash.
The same process was applied to magazines, except that was happening a lot more frequently (we'd get a shipment of magazines at least once or twice a week).
With hardcover and trade paper books, the unbought stock was mailed back to the publisher, or swapped between stores depending on quantity, age, and need.
At the location where I worked there was only one dumpster, and absolutely no recycling went on aside from the store employees picking through the piles and taking what they wanted before the remainder was thrown out.
Of course, if you ever special order anything then someone from corporate would decide there was a market for it and restock the store once you bought your copy; this frequently meant that after I would special order some title for myself, we would have 2 or 3 sit on the shelves for months before we had to strip-cover and discard them. Print-on-demand would have been very nice for those sorts of purchase.