A device like this exists. I know that INGRAM BOOKS is using such a device to put any book that is currently out of print back into circulation, with permission of the publisher, one book at a time. This way, the would not need to reprint more than one copy of a book if that is all the is required.
Thom Quinn
Michelle Jones wrote:
>
> Joe Jenkins wrote:
>
> > This is Just a thought for increasing extropy. If there was a general
> > purpose book scanner that was a consumer PC peripheral (<$400)...
>
> joe, this is a concept i have been thinking about for a number of
> years. around 1990, i spent most of a summer of weekends in a
> genealogical library searching my roots. (i know get a life. {8^D)
> i realized that one such as the sutro library in san francisco lists
> every american on the order of 100 times, this guess arrived at by
> estimated the number of americans that have ever lived, the number
> of books, the number of names in each book. calculate, and you
> find that each of your ancestors are mentioned in that library
> 100 times, and... you cant find em. perhaps not even any of em.
> even with advanced research techniques and indices. we need that book
> scanner. most genealogical books are not copyrighted, and many
> useful sources are copyright expired. i would cheerfully give
> 1k clams for such a device. spike