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A few years ago, at the height of the dotcom boom, it was widely assumed that a publishing revolution, in which the printed word would be supplanted by the computer screen, was just around the corner. It wasn¡¯t: for many, there is still little to match the joy of cracking the spine of a good book and settling down for an hour or two of reading. But a recent flurry of activity by big technology companies¡ªincluding Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo!¡ªsuggests that the dream of bringing books online is still very much alive.

The digitising of thousands of volumes of print is not without controversy. On Thursday November 3rd, Google, the world¡¯s most popular search engine, posted a first instalment of books on Google Print, an initiative first mooted a year ago. This collaborative effort between Google and several of the world¡¯s leading research libraries aims to make many thousands of books available to be searched and read online free of charge. Although the books included so far are not covered by copyright, the plan has attracted the ire of publishers.

Five large book firms are suing Google for violating copyright on material that it has scanned and, although out of print, is still protected by law. Google has said that it will only publish short extracts from material under copyright unless given express permission to publish more, but publishers are unconvinced. Ironically, many publishers are collaborating with Google on a separate venture, Google Print Publisher, which aims to give readers an online taste of books that are commercially available. The searchable collection of extracts and book information is intended to tempt readers to buy the complete books online or in print form.

Not to be outdone, Amazon, the world¡¯s largest online retailer, has unveiled plans for its own foray into the mass e-book market. The firm, which began ten years ago as an online book retailer, now sells a vast array of goods. No doubt piqued that Google, a relative newcomer, should impinge upon its central territory, Amazon revealed on Thursday that it would introduce two new services. Amazon Pages will allow customers to search for key terms in selected books and then buy and read online whatever part they wish, from individual pages to chapters or complete works. Amazon Upgrade will give customers online access to books they have already purchased as hard copies. Customers are likely to have to pay around five cents a page, with the bulk going to the publisher.

Microsoft, too, has joined the online-book bandwagon. At the end of October, the software giant said it would spend around $200m to digitise texts, starting with 150,000 that are in the public domain, to avoid legal problems. It will do so in collaboration with the Open Content Alliance, a consortium of libraries and universities. (Yahoo! has pledged to make 18,000 books available online in conjunction with the same organisation.) And on Thursday, coincidentally the same day as Google and Amazon announced their initiatives, Microsoft released details of a deal with the British Library, the country¡¯s main reference library, to digitise some 25m pages; these will be made available through MSN Book Search, which will be launched next year.

×¢£¨1£©£º±¾ÎÄÑ¡×ÔEconomist, 11/04/2005

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1£® What is attitude towards online books by big technology companies?

  [A] Reserved

    [B] Proud

    [C] Confident

    [D] Indifferent

2£® Which of the following is NOT an online book service?

  [A] Yahoo Library

    [B] MSN Book Search

    [C] Google Print

    [D] Amazon Pages

3£® The expression ¡°just around the corner¡± (Line 2, Paragraph 1) means that _______.

  [A] Something is very close.

    [B] There is something in the corner.

    [C] Something is impossible to happen.

    [D] Something is going to happen soon.

4£® What is the publishers¡¯ attitude towards the service of onlin book?

  [A] Apprehansive

    [B] Ambivalent

    [C] Respectful

    [D] Indifferent

5£® What is the weak point of online book service?

    [A] It is not easy to use the service to search books.

    [B] Users need to pay for reading all book contents.

    [C] It cannot provide books of copyright for free.

    [D] The books online are not of good quality.

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At the end of October, the software giant said it would spend around $200m to digitise texts, starting with 150,000 that are in the public domain, to avoid legal problems.

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