Wednesday, September 16, 2015
When PR Is Not Enough
Google Books started out as a generous and innovative idea. Google wanted to scan all of the books in the world and make them available online. Then, it ran afoul of authors and publishers who didn't want their works made available free when there was still a chance of remuneration. Since then, Google Books has gone silent. It is sad that such a major project has run afoul. Maybe Google will take it up again when the legal challenges are settled. In the meantime, it is a lesson that even the best intentions can be thwarted and positive public relations turn against one. The problem with Google's idea is the sheer size of the project. People don't trust such a task to be just from the goodness of the heart of a major corporation. It seems the larger a corporation gets, the greater its vulnerability -- or, at least that is the case here. One wonders what more the company can do in order for it to resume its project.
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