AMAZON TAKES ON GOOGLE'S BOOK PROJECT, YOUTUBE WANTS TO RENT
OUT MOVIES, AND IF YOU ARE STILL APPREHENSIVE ABOUT TWITTER,
YOU CAN TAKE A COLLEGE CLASS ABOUT IT. YIKES. ITS THURSDAY,
SEPTEMBER 3RD. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE. IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
[*]
AMAZON IS TAKING ON GOOGLE, OPPOSING THE COMPANY'S PLANS TO
DIGITIZE MILLIONS OF BOOKS. AMAZON NOT ONLY JOINED THE OPEN
BOOK ALLIANCE THAT OPPOSES GOOGLE BUT ALSO FILED ITS OWN BRIEF
WITH THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT. THE COMPANY CLAIMS THAT GOOGLE'S
BOOK DIGITIZING PROJECT WILL CHANGE COPYRIGHT LAW AND VIOLATE
ANTITRUST LAW. AMAZON DIGITIZES BOOKS TOO BUT THEY HAVE TO GET
COPYRIGHT PERMISSION BECAUSE THEY SELL THE BOOKS. GOOGLE'S
SETTLEMENT WITH THE AUTHOR'S GUILD GIVES GOOGLE THE RIGHT TO
DIGITIZE BOOKS EVEN IF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER CANNOT BE FOUND.
AMAZON IS ALSO WORRIED ABOUT PRICE FIXING. OBVIOUSLY AMAZON IS
MOTIVATED TO OPPOSE GOOGLE'S DIGITAL BOOKS BECAUSE IT WILL
COMPETE WITH THE KINDLE. I HAD PREVIOUSLY HOPED THAT AMAZON
WOULD JOIN GOOGLE IN THIS EFFORT BUT IT LOOKS LIKE WE WILL HAVE
TO BRACE FOR A FIGHT. I FIND THIS NEWS DISCOURAGING ENOUGH TO
BUY A SONY READER.
[*]
MEANWHILE, GOOGLE IS CONTINUING TO MOVE AHEAD WITH THE BOOKS
PROJECT. THE COMPANY HAS SIGNED A DEAL WITH INTEREAD, A BRITISH
COMPANY. THIS WILL HELP GOOGLE BRING DIGITAL BOOKS OVERSEAS
FOR THE FIRST TIME WHERE CLOSE TO HALF A MILLION OF THEM WILL BE
FREE. INSTEREAD HAS ITS OWN EREADER CALLED THE COOL-ER AND IT
READS OVER 19 FORMATS INCLUDING EPUB, PDF, AND MP3 FOR AUDIO
BOOKS.
[*]
GOOGLE VOICE IS STILL NOT IN THE IPHONE APP STORE BUT SOMETHING
VERY SIMILAR IS. GOOGLE JUST APPROVED LINE2, AN APPLICATION THAT
LETS YOU ASSIGN TWO NUMBERS TO YOUR IPHONE, PRESUMABLY ONE
FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND ONE FOR BUSINESS ASSOCIATES. IT HAS
CALL FILTERING AND VOICEMAIL. A LOT LIKE GOOGLE VOICE. SO WHY
THIS AND NOT THAT?
[*]
A NEW COMPUTER PROGRAM MAY BE ABLE TO DECIPHER ANCIENT TEXTS
THAT NO HUMAN HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO READ. RESEARCHERS IN
ISRAEL HAVE WRITTEN THIS PROGRAM IN ORDER TO INDEX AND SEARCH
THROUGH HISTORICAL DOCUMENT USING A PATTERN RECOGNITION
ALGORITHM. THE PROGRAM IS SAID TO BE ABLE TO DECIPHER LETTERS,
WORDS, AND EVEN HANDWRITING STYLES. IT WORKS WITH ANCIENT
HEBREW TEXTS FOR NOW BUT DEVELOPERS SAY THAT IT WILL BE ABLE
TO SPEAK OTHER LANGUAGES EVENTUALLY. THE PROGRAM COULD BE
AVAILABLE TO ACADEMICS IN 2 YEARS.
[*]
SONY UNVEILED A NEW ULTRAPORTABLE LAPTOP AT THE IFA
CONFERENCE IN GERMANY. IT LOOKS A LOT LIKE THE VIAO P. ITS NOT
REALLY A NETBOOK. IT'S 11 INCHES AND IT IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE AN
ALL-DAY BATTERY. IT WEIGHS JUST HALF A POUND AND I'M ASSUMING IT
WILL HAVE 3G LIKE THE VIAO P BUT WE DON'T KNOW THAT FOR SURE. IN
FACT, THAT'S ALL WE KNOW FOR NOW.
[*]
YOU MAY SOON BE ABLE TO RENT MOVIES ON YOUTUBE THE WAY YOU
CAN ON NETFLIX OR ITUNES. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL IS REPORTING
THAT GOOGLE IS IN DISCUSSIONS WITH MAJOR MOVIE STUDIOS TO RENT
OUT MOVIS ON THE SITE. THE STUDIOS IN QUESTION ARE LIONS GATE,
SONY, MGM, AND WARER BROTHERS. THE RUMOR IS THAT THESE COULD
BE AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL ONLINE THE SAME DAY THAT THEY ARE
AVAILABLE FOR RENTAL IN STORES. OF COURSE THIS IS PURE
SPECULATION AT THIS POINT.
[*]
WHEN YOU'RE WATCHING THE U.S. OPEN THIS WEEK YOU WILL NOT SEE
ANY OF THE PLAYERS TWITTERING. TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS HAVE
PROHIBITED PLAYERS FROM TWEETING DURING THE GAMES, FEARING
THAT THEY WOULD SEND OUT INSIDE INFORMATION THAT GAMBLERS
COULD USE. PLAYERS ARE ALSO CAUTIONED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT OFF-
COURT TWEETS. SO IF RAFAEL NADAL SAID HE WAS DRINKING
GATORADE, WE MIGHT ASSUME HE WAS DEHYDRATED. THE NFL ISSUED A
SIMILAR BAN ON SOCIAL NETWORKING DURING GAMES JUST THIS WEEK.
[*]
MOST OF THE ARTICLES YOU READ ON WIKIPEDIA WERE WRITTEN BY
MEN. A STUDY FROM WIKIPEDIA'S NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOUND
THAT ONE IN EIGHT CONTRIBUTORS TO THE SITE WERE MEN. WE COULD
COME UP WITH SEVERAL GUESSES AS TO WHY THIS IS BUT...I WOULD
RATHER NOT.
[*]
WHAT THE HECK IS A DIGI-NOVEL? ANTHONY ZUIKER, THE CREATOR OF
THE SHOW CSI IS RELEASING SOMETHING WITH THAT NAME THAT IS
SOME KIND OF HYBRID BETWEEN A BOOK, A MOVIE, AND A WEB-SITE. IT
IS CALLED LEVEL 26 AND IT WILL MAKE READERS LOG INTO A WEB SITE
EVERY 20 PAGES IN ORDER TO WATCH A THREE MINUTE FILM CLIP TIED
TO THE STORY. THESE FILMS ARE CALLED CYBER BRIDGES. I CAN'T
DECIDE IF I THINK THIS IS GENIUS OR IF I THINK IT IS GIMMICKY. SURELY
THE FUTURE OF MEDIA IS MULTI-PLATFORM BUT DO I WANT TO CHASE
DOWN MULTIPLE PLATFORMS MYSELF? I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO YOU
THINK? RING IN AT LOADED@CNET.COM.
[*]
JOURNALISM STUDENTS ARE NOW BEING TRAINED IN THE ART OF THE
TWEET. OH MY. DE PAUL UNIVERSITY IS NOW OFFERING A COURSE
CALLED "DIGITAL EDITING: FROM BREAKING NEWS TO TWEETS." IT WILL
FOCUS ON HOW NEWS BREAKS. I WON'T ARGUE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE
GET THEIR BREAKING NEWS FROM TWITTER BUT IT STILL FEELS LIKE A
VERY SUSPECT COLLEGE COURSE TO ME. MAYBE I'M JUST BEING
ANACHRONISTIC ABOUT THIS.
[*]
AND FINALLY I WANT TO READ SOME OF YOUR EMAIL. A VIEWER NAMED
CALEB GOT AN INVITE FOR FACEBOOK LITE. HE WAS NOT IMPRESSED. HE
WRITES:
"WHAT'S THE POINT!? It takes half the functionality away and I don't see the point of
trying to "compete with Twitter" or anyone else for that matter if I lose functionality.
Facebook should try to implement a simpler design while keeping the core feature set
intact. I for one will not be using Facebook Lite again."
SO YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN. OKAY. I WONDER IF THERE WILL BE AN ANTI-
FACEBOOK LIKE FACEBOOK GROUP?
[*]
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY AND THAT WRAPS UP
YOUR WEEK OF GETTING LOADED. BEFORE I GO, I WANT TO WISH A
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO THE INTERNET. AND AS FOR REAL PEOPLE,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX, EARL, MICHAEL, BRENT, AND GEORGE. I WILL SEE
YOU NEXT TUESDAY. MONDAY IS A HOLIDAY SO WE ARE OFF. THANK YOU
FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST
BEEN LOADED.
