France detects cultural threat in Google

Some think that Europe has the choice of trying to develop its own search engine or of reaching agreement with Google.
The New York Times

The story "France detects cultural threat in Google" published April 12, 2005 at 6:16 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

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[Dibbs]

good to see somebody cares

i am all for Google Print. i can't wait to access the texts of such great libraries. just as long as they're in english.

but if i was interested in French literature (i am not), i might be somewhat out of luck. you can replace "French" with just about any other culture you like, and get the same results.

my point is this: so i don't care about French culture (why would i?). if i am Google, why do i care about non-english books? as far as i'm concerned, if they want their books in the digital domain, they can do it themselves. how about some co-operation? you scan 'em, i put them in my database. everybody is happy.

[Dibbs]

good to see somebody cares

i am all for Google Print. i can't wait to access the texts of such great libraries. just as long as they're in english.

but if i was interested in French literature (i am not), i might be somewhat out of luck. you can replace "French" with just about any other culture you like, and get the same results.

my point is this: so i don't care about French culture (why would i?). if i am Google, why do i care about non-english books? as far as i'm concerned, if they want their books in the digital domain, they can do it themselves. how about some co-operation? you scan 'em, i put them in my database. everybody is happy.

[taznar]

Is that a misprint?

From the article, "Google expects to spend $150 million to $200
million over a decade to digitize 15 million books".

That's over $10 million per book to digitize?

Where do I apply for that job?

[JShah]

$10 m per book?

If you do the math correctly, it comes down to about $10 per book.

So, I'd suggest you don't bother applying for this job. Perhaps, a arithmetic class could be helpful ;-).

[taznar]

Is that a misprint?

From the article, "Google expects to spend $150 million to $200
million over a decade to digitize 15 million books".

That's over $10 million per book to digitize?

Where do I apply for that job?

[JShah]

$10 m per book?

If you do the math correctly, it comes down to about $10 per book.

So, I'd suggest you don't bother applying for this job. Perhaps, a arithmetic class could be helpful ;-).

[Earl Benser]

Don't strip the French of everything...

France hasn't actually won a war on three hundred years. The
French language was abandoned for diplomatic purposes.
French fashion is the pits. The French goverment is on the take
from every possible source, eg., Saddam. French art may have
some merit, but not recently. So maybe the French culture,
whatever the h--- that means, is all they have left.

Then, does anybody really care?????

They also have...

The French also have food. They are very good cooks and most of the world owes them for many innovations in this area. Well, except for the snail thing. :)

Robert

[Christopher Hall]

Also keep in mind...

France is one of the only countries to lose its own revolution. How they pulled that off is a mystery for the ages. ;-)

[Dibbs]

good point

well they're very good at smelling bad and convincing themselves they're supperior in every way. also, they are some very funny french phrases.

[Earl Benser]

Don't strip the French of everything...

France hasn't actually won a war on three hundred years. The
French language was abandoned for diplomatic purposes.
French fashion is the pits. The French goverment is on the take
from every possible source, eg., Saddam. French art may have
some merit, but not recently. So maybe the French culture,
whatever the h--- that means, is all they have left.

Then, does anybody really care?????

They also have...

The French also have food. They are very good cooks and most of the world owes them for many innovations in this area. Well, except for the snail thing. :)

Robert

[Christopher Hall]

Also keep in mind...

France is one of the only countries to lose its own revolution. How they pulled that off is a mystery for the ages. ;-)

[Dibbs]

good point

well they're very good at smelling bad and convincing themselves they're supperior in every way. also, they are some very funny french phrases.