Anyone got a pastebin? Article's behind a paywall.
Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's insane about an alignment of incentives? Drone resources were available. Physical books were going unused, while electronic copies are not exactly free. Those involved get a pat on the back via publicity. Readers get to read more. Learners get to experience a new phenomenon.
"Electronic copies are not exactly free." What?
Yep. You know the library has to pay extra for electronic texts, right? For example, when a patron checks out an item from Hoopla, the library is charged from $1 to $3 (or so... prices may have changed) for that transaction. This affects the number of check-outs the library grants patrons for a given month. I've seen ours vary from 3-10. And many popular titles are not available at any time.
Another reason why it makes sense to leverage the physical books.
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#23Why is this a great idea, but Amazon delivering packages via drones crazy? Technologically, it's the exact same thing.
Because it's for "good.
The cynical side of me, and I'm particularly cynical when it comes to Google, is that this kind of thing is nothing more than PR to try to normalize filling our skies with drones ("Look at the good they do!") so they can inevitably then fill the skies with crap to boost the consumerist appetite without much protest.
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#24This is in the county, Montgomery, where Virgina Tech is based. They have a very large UAV program there. So much so that they applied for a campus-wide FAA exemption. I think it's cool if a bit useless. But if you have a hammer, everything else is a nail. Books have been delivered electronically for decades. Electronically flying a physical book doesn't look to be our future.
Electronic books are also not our future. Until there are ebooks with physical pages I can turn, I can’t be bothered with them and I am not alone. Ebooks will never be mainstream except for audio purposes and for reference material.
That sounds nice if not a bit anachronistic. But as a child that had to carry 20lbs+ of books to school everyday I would have loved to have had a Kindle, a notepad, and some pencils as my daily load-out.
You with your immense home library of walls full of books can continue to do you.
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#25Huh, the median income of Christiansburg, VA is way higher than I expected. $60-80k?
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#26This is in the county, Montgomery, where Virgina Tech is based. They have a very large UAV program there. So much so that they applied for a campus-wide FAA exemption. I think it's cool if a bit useless. But if you have a hammer, everything else is a nail. Books have been delivered electronically for decades. Electronically flying a physical book doesn't look to be our future.
Thanks for noting this! I am from (real) SW Virginia. While this looks great as a headline--because everyone knows of SW Virginia's impoverished situation due to coal economy dependencies--Montgomery is definitely NOT the poorest county in SW VA. That's on the border of barely qualifying as "SW VA" in my opinion. I'd rather see this impact in the coalfield counties of Buchanan, Wise, Dickenson, Russell, Lee, Tazewell…
Is 4G/LTE connectivity also an issue? You've seen internet access brought to people through smart phones but I'm curious if the geography poses even more problems with that approach.
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#27This is in the county, Montgomery, where Virgina Tech is based. They have a very large UAV program there. So much so that they applied for a campus-wide FAA exemption. I think it's cool if a bit useless. But if you have a hammer, everything else is a nail. Books have been delivered electronically for decades. Electronically flying a physical book doesn't look to be our future.
Books (the paper kind) have been delivered by mail by decades as well.
Is this practical? Probably not. Is it kind of fun? Sure!
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#28For the low-tech version, see Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
> low-tech version
Appropriate tech in this case. They have delivered over a a hundred million books.
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#29Hmmm... dropping books on kids... It's good that cows are not flying... Wait, Russians did that already https://youtu.be/QvRiXIfRsCw?t=28
What is this from?
Re: Google-backed drones will drop library books to kids in SW Virginia
#30This is in the county, Montgomery, where Virgina Tech is based. They have a very large UAV program there. So much so that they applied for a campus-wide FAA exemption. I think it's cool if a bit useless. But if you have a hammer, everything else is a nail. Books have been delivered electronically for decades. Electronically flying a physical book doesn't look to be our future.
Electronic books are also not our future. Until there are ebooks with physical pages I can turn, I can’t be bothered with them and I am not alone. Ebooks will never be mainstream except for audio purposes and for reference material.
You aren't alone, but you are also incorrect. Ebooks are already very mainstream. Doesn't mean physical books are dead - over time sales of physical books have gone down and sales of ebooks have risen. (though this has been relatively steady of late - ebooks make up 20% of sales)
fwiw, I hate ebooks for references because flipping around is pretty tough - but as someone who loves to travel and loves to read, being able to bring a single ebook reader has been life changing.