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Google Betas Google Print
Chronic Infection writes "Google is beta testing a book search service called
Google Print. Here is a list of books included to date." Quick spot checking turned up excerpts like this one for The DaVinci Code, a great book if you haven't read it.
Quote from Google Print FAQ: During this trial, publishers' content is hosted by Google and is ranked in our search results according to the same technology we use to evaluate websites.
Now I wonder how this is done. Google's PageRank uses links from other pages to rank results - but in usual books there aren't any "hyperlinks".
Could anyone offer me insight into this? - thanks!
"...a great book if you haven't read it."
I cant resist asking:
So how great is it if you did read it?
This is simply amazing. First it's amazing that publishers are allowing such a thing. It's also amazing to imagine what we only be in the immediate future for all of us. Knowledge at our fingertips, from web sites, and now from online books whose publishers realize that many, many people will read parts online but will want to purchase a dead tree to read the whole book.
I know Amazon did this first, but I love to see Google taking up the idea. Google is simply my favorite company in the world. They don't take crap from (mostly) anyone, and they run Linux across the board. They are an undeniable force.
It may be risky, but I for one will be investing in Google the moment they release their stock. This is a terrific company and the people that are running it are terrifically smart!
This is definitely a step in the right directions, but it's just that - a step. I'd really love to have access to a digital library (d.l.) in much the same I have access to one in the real world. I wonder if Ben Franklin came under as severe commercial pressure as those who are trying to push for a digital library available to all?
"If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit." - Mitch Hedberg
Most of the alleged "excerpts" are nothing of the sort. They're just bibliographic entries.
This would be a really useful service if they could distinguish between the books that have *actual* excerpts and those which just had descriptions, TOCs, etc.
Not really related to Google directly, but still useful. In a user .css file (you can specify it in IE's accessibility options or Opera, or use userContent.css in your Mozilla/Firebird profile chrome directory): .readerImage {
display: inline !important;
}
That's it. Really simple.
Currently there are 52 books in this database. (Use this google search)
But it is an interesting idea. And might yield more useful results for information seeing as the bar for publishing a book is a little higher than getting a webpage listed in google.
At this point, we all know Google uses pigeonrank technology.
While your post might have been valid a few years ago, ever since Google told us the real secret, it's hard to believe some people still think they use all those fancy algorithms and hyperlinkers.
I just looked at the excerpt of "The Partner, Large Print Edition" but unfortunately the font was the same as for all the other books.
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
is available with a particularly phrased Google search.
I have, and really, it's not that great of a book. What makes it a bestseller is that it provides new insights into the Catholic Church, and, in the course of the fiction story, weaves in a good nonfiction tale.
It really is fascinating reading, like proclaiming that the Holy Grail, long thought to be a chalice (see Monty Python and the Holy Grail) is actually the remains of Mary Magdalene, and the quest to find her remains and to pray by them. It also says that with Mary's remains, there are boxes of old documents with proof that the Church was involved in a conspiracy, made Mary out as whore when really she might have been Jesus's wife.
IMHO, I think this book was designed as a nonfiction book first (the story of Mary, etc) and then the fiction part was made up, so to help burn away the ire of the Catholic Church. I hear this book caused quite a stir in the Vatican. The thing that might have saved it was probably that it was styled as a fiction book.
If you want to read some interesting insights into the Catholic Church, read this book. If you're looking for a good fiction title, forget it. You're better off acquiring a copy of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen or something else from the classics.