Google Librarian

Google has reached an agreement with five of the most celebrated libraries to make more than 15 million books available free on the internet.
Stanford University is digitising nearly eighteen million books and the Bodelian at Oxford University is making available almost all of it's uncopyrighted material published in the 19th century , including works by Dickens, Byron and Austen.

But won't there be a mass suicide by book publishers?

It's probably targeted towards Google scholar

This reminds me..didnt MIT plan to offer all its course materials online? or was that another university?
I remember reading about that 2 or 3 years ago.

MIT Opencourseware

Do you mean this one ?

There's this one as well Oxford University Open Learning
They are modelled on the Open University which has existed since the 70's or 80's.
[ December 17, 2004: Message edited by: Helen Thomas ]

Arjun Shastry: But won't there be a mass suicide by book publishers?

Some day, tablet PCs and e-books will be used by the masses and paper books will be a status symbol of the ellite (like electricity and candles). Will save some trees too.

And the phrase "page-turning novel" will probably be replaced by what? "next clicking novel" ?

candles are status symbols of the elite ?

hmm.. no they are not. Expensive designer candles may be, probably. I wouldn't know much.
Okay, I goofed

Was thinking of this quote when i posted that:
"We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles," - Thomas Edison(or was it Samuel Insull?)

Similarly, when ebooks will be in widespread use, only the rich might pile up tradebacks and hardcovers.

Okay, I goofed Not really

One could guess
you meant that candles would be less used.

Was thinking of this quote when i posted that:
"We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles," - Thomas Edison(or was it Samuel Insull?)

I didn't know that.
I read that Isaac Newton said something to the effect that
what he did was nothing,he stood on the shoulders of giants.Which I thought was very good of him to say so..
[ December 18, 2004: Message edited by: Helen Thomas ]

Originally posted by Bhau Mhatre:

And the phrase "page-turning novel" will probably be replaced by what? "next clicking novel" ?

"It's a real next-clicker."

"It's a real clicker."

Mmmmm. Doesn't work for me.

Originally posted by Helen Thomas:
MIT Opencourseware

Do you mean this one ?

Yes, that's the one. Thanks for the link.

I read through parts of Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs and How to Design Programs, both part of MIT couseware, a few years ago.
This is really good stuff, making high quality education accessible to a lot of people who cannot afford it.

This changes the role of the author, publisher and now teacher somewhat.

Leaves the market open for "the virtual tutor". Teachers may not have face to face contact with students. i.e. this role diminishes. they'll become more like administrators.

OR
This approach will make more time for one-to-one teaching.

With the MIT open-coursse there is no interaction with teachers as far as I can tell, and no charges.
The Oxford Open Learning has some teaching structure at little cost to the student.
[ December 18, 2004: Message edited by: Helen Thomas ]