*Update – NY Judge has delayed hearings in the Google Book Deal – read all about it*

Much of humanity’s knowledge is in the process of being digitized, and a new set of rules are currently in draft-mode concerning how this wealth of knowledge may (or may not) be made available to the public.
If you’ve ever read a book, or wanted to, if you’ve ever searched Google, or dreamed of it, you might want to catch up on the latest developments in our civilization’s fight for access to information. More recently, as physical copies of literature have become less relevant to the public, being able to effectively access their digital counterparts becomes increasingly important. This is an opinion piece, and all of ‘em are mine, the author, so don’t go blaming anybody else if your sensibilities are touched. With that disclaimer made, on with it!

Walking down the street the other day a friend of mine turns to me and asks: Hey, so you work with Google or whatever, what the hell is the big deal? Why am I constantly hearing about this ridiculous company with a childish logo, I mean, it’s just a freaking search box isn’t it?

My response was to pause for a moment in order to consider how I could express to this pre-Internet generation chum what the hell the big deal was. Eventually I responded: Well, I think that search box will come to represent, in a very real way, either human freedom, or a lack thereof….