Google Still #3 In eBooks
- From: Michael Hart <hart@[redacted]>
- Subject: Google Still #3 In eBooks
- Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 06:13:29 PDT
eBook Pioneers Project Gutenberg
and The World eBook Library
Proudly Present
1/3 Million eBooks at First World eBook Fair, July 4, 2006
Press Release: Tuesday, May 23 thru Tuesday May 30, 2006
Six Weeks to Launch of 1/3 Million eBooks at Fair
Google Still #3 In eBooks
Despite a billion dollars in publicity 18 months ago,
and over a hundred billion in financial assets, #3 is
is as high as Google has managed to climb in an eBook
world that is being dominated by just plain folks who
make eBooks that can be downloaded and used with ease
in virtually every text based program out there.
The Rankings
#1 ~250,000 eBooks in The World eBook Library
#2 ~100,000 eBooks in The Project Gutenberg Library
#3 ~50,000 eBooks in The Google Book Search Project
#4 ~25,000 eBooks in Yahoo's Open Content Alliance
[See footnote for details]
David versus Googliath
Google and Yahoo are each multibillion dollar brands,
and each have a host of multibillion dollar libraries
as business partners, while The World eBook Library's
collection is made up of donations from 100 libraries
you probably never heard of, and Project Gutenberg is
made up totally of volunteer eBook makers.
Google's eBook total is finally approaching 1% of the
stated goal of 10 million eBooks in 25% of the period
of 6 years laid out 18 months ago in the media blitz.
If you combine their total with Yahoo's, perhaps that
would get them to 1% of that 10 million.
Moore's Law Doubts Google Progress In eBooks
It has been about 18 months since the big press blitz
that had everyone believing that Google invented this
whole eBook enterprise, and thus we have a first look
at Moore's Law projections, since they take place for
periods of 18 months.
Currently Google has just passed 50,000 eBooks, for a
total of 1/2 percent of their stated 10,000,000 eBook
projected collection.
For the sakes of generosity and ease of calculations,
let's presume they have reached 100,000 or 1%.
Thus, by Moore's Law, doubling every 18 months, it is
likely they will achieve 2% in 3 years, and 8% in the
six years scheduled from December 14, 2004, for total
number of eBooks well under a million by 2011.
And that is via giving them credit for 100,000 eBooks
by June 14, 2006, when it should be difficult, if not
impossible, to find 50,000 and download even 10,000.
Moore's Law Trails Behind Project Gutenberg eBooks
However, if you start counting Project Gutenberg with
10 eBooks by 1991 and applying Moore's Law you should
find that 15 years equals 10 Moore's Law's doublings,
which would be 10,240 books, but the original Project
Gutenberg list should have twice that many this year,
and nearly 100,000 counting donations by a hundred of
the world's eBook collections to their cooperative at
The Project Gutenberg Consortia Center.
What Is A Library Without A Catalog Listing of Books?
Perhaps this is why Google & Co. are unwilling to put
an online catalogue on their sites, there just aren't
that many eBooks there, and most of them are kept out
of circulation by blocking downloads.
By Media Coverage, Google Is Still #1, and Yahoo #2
If you listen to the media, or were reading last week
in the NY Times, or nearly anything in between, it is
made readily apparent to you that Google is #1 with a
#2 position taken by Yahoo, who followed them about a
year later in announcing their eBook revolutions, but
the truth is that Google has just recently passed the
50,000 eBook mark in their Google Print Library which
has been renamed Google Book Search, since the public
quickly figured out it was meant as neither PRINT nor
as a LIBRARY:
"Google Book Search is a means
for helping users discover books,
not to read them online and/or download them."
was Google's reply when confronted with the issue and
was thus forced to rename both product and project.
NY Times, Wired and Wall St. Journal Refuse The News
Last week's article in the NY Times was written by an
Editor In Chief of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly, but a
quick read of the lengthy article reveals no mentions
of The World eBook Library or Project Gutenberg which
Mr. Kelly is well aware of as he presented a WIRED 25
award to Michael Hart a few years ago for his Project
Gutenberg work along with other such well known stars
as Robert Altman at an A list Hollywood event.
In addition, Mr. Kelly has been kept up to date via a
conversation on this subject with Project Gutenberg.
A message from one reader received Mr. Kelly's reply
that the brevity of the nearly 8,000 word article is
responsible for leaving out the #1 and #2 libraries,
even though a correction was instantly added, as per
complaints that Chinese libraries were miscounted.
Information provided several times over to Mr. Kelly
and the NYTimes in this past month was ignored.
The NYTimes and Mr. Kelly are both well aware of the
history and scope of The World eBook Library and the
effort of Project Gutenberg, not to mention combined
efforts on their part to bring 1/3 million eBooks to
the public from July 4 to August 4 in celebration of
the 35th anniversary of the first step toward eBooks
and eLibraries that took place when the "Declaration
of Independence" was placed on the Internet, July 4,
1971 and which has been downloaded by millions.
The Wall St. Journal insisted on asking the question
"What do you think of being passed by Google"?, over
and over this year, and the answer given was always:
"Google will have to actually catch up with us first
and then you can ask that question."
The World eBook Fairs are scheduled for four events:
1/3 million in 2006
1/2 million in 2007
3/4 million in 2008
ONE million in 2009
Plus A Million or Two Other eBooks, We Hope!!!
If Google and Yahoo can even manage even one million
in that period, then readers should have a total for
their reading and research of three million eBooks--
given that one million eBooks could be attributed to
sources that are not aligned with such projects.
The real question is:
"Why is it that two simple efforts who have no money
between them can outcompete Google and Yahoo and the
host of multibillion dollar libraries that joined in
their highly publicized eBook projects that have yet
to produce even 1% of their stated goals?"
The answers:
1.
"Project Gutenberg and The World eBook Library loved
their work so much that money & publicity were never
needed to motivate them."
2.
"The first rule of reporting is:
`Follow The Money.'"
Project Gutenberg has never had any money, rarely is
there even enough to pay the two salaried positions.
Footnote:
*The estimates for #3 & #4 are generous, you would be
hard pressed to actually find that many eBooks and be
able to download even fewer to use at home. Catalogs
for these libraries don't seem to always be among the
items available for download.
Contact:
Michael S. Hart <hart@[redacted]> Phone: 217-344-6623
Founder, Project Gutenberg
See:
http://www.gutenberg.org [Use any favorite browsers]
http://www.gutenberg.cc
http://worldebookfair.com