The Guardian’s Observer Sees Trickiness in Google
March 23, 2009
I am an addled goose and my prose does not flow trippingly on the tongue. I do enjoy British humor. If I did not, I would not have been able to sustain my 25 year friendship with my British publisher.
If you enjoy the Oxbridge way, you will find some enjoyment in Robert McCrum’s “Is Google Committing Theft – or Ushering in a Bright New Age?” here.
Poor Googzilla. Its alleged copyright transgressions continue to provide ammunition to its critics. But Google gets off with a slap on its snout. Mr. McCrum targets “a pop academic” named James Boyle. He was, if I am understanding Mr. McCrum’s argument, used as an example of “a rallying cry to the Googletariat: ‘Nerds of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your urls.’
I quite like the “nerds of the world” phrase. I don’t care too much for Googletariat. I hope Mr. Boyle experiences joy when he realizes that his book The Public Domain is the focus of Mr. McCrum’s wit.
The only issue I have with Mr. McCrum’s write up is that he works for a dead tree outfit that may face some challenges that wit cannot resolve. I suppose the financial mavens at the Guardian / Observer could use Google to look for some ideas. Well, maybe not? A manual search of the shelves in the basement of Blackwell’s in Oxford would probably be more comfortable.
Stephen Arnold, March 22, 2009
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