google and the art of cool free stuff...
Google to allow free downloads of books
Google Inc. on Wednesday plans to begin letting consumers download and print free of charge classic novels and many other, more obscure books that are in the public domain.
Using Google's Book Search service, Web surfers hunting titles like Dante's "Inferno" and Aesop's "Fables" will be able to download PDF files of the books for later reading, to run keyword searches or to print them on paper. Up to now, the service only allowed people to read the out-of-copyright books online.
Book lovers worldwide (and I daresay specially in India) must be doing the bhangra with consumate joy..why specifically in India you might ask? well the lack of even below average libraries available to a vast majority of the population across any demographic and economic status is glaringly evident.
Part of these fantastic offerings from Google have got to do with building a sort of immense 'trust factor' for netizens across the world. With news of Google entering into the software space and consequently going head to head with the big MS, there is no doubt that the positive brand image built over the past few years through phenomenal products from Google Labs and excellently timed acquisitions (picassa, hello and most recently blogger) will certainly provide an edge on the web-based marketing front.
As I say this, I stumble upon this piece of news and realize - the nexus that shall take on MS gets more complex and more ominous with each passing day. I rub my hands in glee...
Recently? Blogger was acquired few years back i think. ; - )
Cheers, Rohit
Posted by
rohitsahib |
5:54 AM, September 03, 2006