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eal restriction was economics. The market made it impossibly difficult
to do anything about this ephemeral culture; the law had little practical
effect.
Perhaps the single most important feature of the digital revolution
is that for the first time since the Library of Alexandria, it is feasible to
imagine constructing archives that hold all culture produced or distributed
publicly. Technology makes it possible to imagine an archive of all
books published, and increasingly makes it possible to imagine an
archive of all moving images and sound.
The scale of this potential archive is something we’ve never imagined
before. The Brewster Kahles of our history have dreamed about it;
but we are for the first time at a point where that dream is possible. As
Kahle describes,
It looks like there’s about two to three million recordings of music.
Ever. There are about a hundred thousand theatrical releases
of movies, ...and about one to two million movies [distributed]
during the twentieth century. There are about twenty-six million
different titles of books. All of these would fit on computers that
would fit in this room and be able to be afforded by a small company.
So we’re at a turning point in our history. Universal access is
the goal. And the opportunity of leading a different life, based on
this, is ...thrilling. It could be one of the things humankind
would be most proud of. Up there with the Library of Alexandria,
putting a man on the moon, and the invention of the printing
press.
Kahle is not the only librarian. The Internet Archive is not the only
archive. But Kahle and the Internet Archive suggest what the future of
libraries or archives could be. When the commercial life of creative
property ends, I don’t know. But it does. And whenever it does, Kahle
and his archive hint at a world where this knowledge, and culture, remains
perpetually available. Some will draw upon it to understand it;
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