In its ongoing crusade to make as much of the world’s information available online (an act that is not entirely altruistic), Google have teamed up with the British Library to release 250,000 books online, from the library’s stock.
‘The Telegraph’ reports that the books will cover the years from 1700 to 1870, so the copyright issues that Google has had with other aspects of its library project won’t be a major concern.
About 40 million pages will be digitised, meaning anyone who’s interested, can read books by writers who witnessed the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the invention of rail travel and the abolition of slavery.
When people look back at the revolution that’s happening right now, I wonder will they be reading about it on paper or on-screen? And which will offer the most ‘authentic’ experience? Or will they even be reading at all?
