[1139] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Gutenberg Statistics
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Fri Sep 4 10:43:37 1992
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 09:37:54 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
FROM: AXPBBGS --UICVMC
From: Bernie Sloan
Subject: Gutenberg stats
In the August 31 Project Gutenberg Newsletter, Michael Hart appears
to be claiming to have distributed at least 2.8 billion e-texts. Under
the header "Our Goal, To Give Away One Trillion Etexts By December 31,
2001", he states: "We should be at about 2.8 billion with release of
the following not counting pre-1991 releases".
I'm curious about how he arrived at the 2.8 billion figure. That's
a big number. If people requested an AVERAGE of 100,000 e-texts
a day, it would take 76 years years to get to the 2.8 billion mark.
Even if people requested an average of ONE MILLION e-texts a day,
it would still take nearly EIGHT YEARS to get there.
Just curious about the math used to get the 2.8 billion figure. As
the August 12 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education notes
"he cannot even estimate how many people have snatched copies of the
dozens of documents that Project Gutenberg has made available so far".
Bernie Sloan
