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Is Google making us stupid?

The Monthly, a self intelligent and witty magazine, has a cover story this month about Google. Gideon Haigh, author of the cover piece, investigates Google and suggests that it may actually be making us stupid. I accept much of what Haigh writes – it’s a worthwhile analysis of Google.

Footnote: The Monthly makes me stupid, as a newsagent. The magazine sells for $6.95. I need to sell three copies a month just to cover the real-estate costs. Sometimes I sell more than this but most times not. So, I’m losing money on the title. By having the title on the shelf I provide a browsing opportunity for consumers. They can see, in the magazine, the subscription offer: $39.95 for a year whereas buying each copy from my shop would cost $76.45 ($57.33 of which goes back to the distributor and publisher). I have no real control over whether I carry the title. It annoys me that the publishers and distributors use newsagent real-estate to build brand awareness and at the same time seek to cut out newsagents and go direct. Yeah, I’m the stupid one.

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