Technology 23 Feb 2005 07:38 pm
The French aren't happy with Google.
The French are not happy with Google right now. Aside from Google losing myriad lawsuits in France, they've also drawn the ire of the head French librarian as well due to their recent project which entails indexing several influential academic libraries in the US. Monsieur Jeanneney is upset that Google is only digitizing English works. This, he believes (and probably rightfully so) that English works will be given more weight than French ones.
Indeed this is true. The more readily available information is the more impact it's going to have on the world. If you can find something by typing a simple search query on the Internet, the odds are more people are going to read it than if something was only available in book format. (I can't remember the last time I used a book to do research.)
It's sort of a natural selection for information. That which is indexed, and that which is not.
All French-bashing aside, I hope this spurs other countries and other languages to take up the digitalization of literary works. It will only increase informational penetration, because let's face it: most younger people spend more time reading things online than they do reading books.
on 26 Feb 2005 at 3:34 pm 1.omg? » The WSJ’s for-pay method of information dissemination said …
[...] line. This has relegated its impact on the web to "insignificant." Much like I wrote about the other day: The more readily available information is the more impact it's going to have on the world. [...]