[saled]

FYI it seems ChatGPT could have answered this for you.

> The book you're describing sounds like "Rainbows End" by Vernor Vinge. In this near-future sci-fi novel, set in 2025, one of the subplots involves a project called the "Library Project," where the UCSD (University of California, San Diego) library decides to digitize its entire collection. The process is somewhat as you described: books are destructively scanned by being shredded into tiny pieces, which are then scanned and digitized, with the text being reconstructed from the scans. This process is a part of the broader themes of the book, which include the effects of technology on society and the concept of "wearable computing" and augmented reality. Vernor Vinge, a retired San Diego State University professor of mathematics, computer scientist, and Hugo Award-winning author, is well-known for his works in the science fiction genre, especially for exploring the concept of the technological singularity.

[gwern]

I'm not surprised ChatGPT can answer it - I'm not sure why, but _Rainbows End_ is one of the most commonly-asked about SF books like that. Everyone remembers the book-tornado doing shotgun sequencing, but they can never remember its name or anything else that happens. I guess that's the problem with having a technology whose mental image is so compelling but also mostly disconnected to the rest of the book. (I know I can't tell you much about the rest without rereading the WP entry.)

[linsomniac]

I'm definitely in that camp, I read it ~10 years ago, and honestly can't remember anything about it but the book scanning.

Similarly, a friend recently read Ghost Fleet and I decided to pick it up and read it. The first chapter seemed familiar, and every once in a while there were "scenes" that I absolutely remembered having read years prior, but I had no memory of the overall plot.

[araes]

Rainbow's End, and Vernor Vinge in general, probably also fall in that category of referenced often, yet not actually read. Somebody actually reads the book, finds the one cool quote or example everybody likes, that idea gets repeated a huge amount, and most people don't actually read Rainbows End. Yet you hear about it so much tangentially, you feel like you have (or must have).

[linsomniac]

It wasn't able to for me, I put it into ChatGPT 4 before I posted this and it was pretty sure I was talking about Diamond Age, and then went on to floss me about how "literally shredding and scanning books isn't a part of the book, but it fits the vibe" (my summary of it's answer).

Thanks for reminding me about Rainbows End.

[linsomniac]

Aside: I remembered search history so I went over to make sure it was in Chat GPT and not Perplexity, but I've looked at both of those and can't seem to find a record of asking either one about shredding and scanning books. I could have sworn it was GPT 4. Now I wish I could find out. I did just ask Bard and it provided a list that included The Diamond Age, but did not include Rainbows End, though I'm quite sure that isn't where I looked before.