Privatization, Google Books, and the Abuse of Language

摘要

Sometimes you can't help but say something-even if you're pretty sure it's not going to do much good. That's how it was when I objected to Siva Vaidhyanathan, Robertson Professor in media studies and chair of the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, using the word "privatization" to describe Google Books. The chances of my winning an argument with Vaidhyanathan, or being heard by one-tenth as many people: effectively zero. The chances of Vaidhyanathan admitting he might be less than wholly correct on the subject: pretty close to zero, particularly now that, as author of The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) (University of California Press: 2011), he's become a pundit.