If this can be achieved, information distribution will reach a new and important level. It seems to me that the TeleRead proposal from David Rothman is a very clear articulation of this idea. H ere David notes that portable electronic devices could be made affordable. Under the proposal, libraries could serve as a core market for companies that developed the appropriate devices, as some are doing even now. Citizens could borrow TeleReaders, acquaint themselves with the technology, and buy their own machines.
C onsider the benefits here.
If we can get library books online without all the copyright-related constraints of paper books, then a whole class of students can easily read a book at the same time. And they can discuss it together, too, both on and offline. In fact, TeleRead would let students legally share books through infrared or radio links on their TeleReads or via email. A tracking system could provide for proper compensation to writers and publishers. To be able to read more books, readers would have to report past uses, and a national library fund could compensate authors and others according to the popularity of books.