It's been a long time since I've been to a record fair. Gone are the days of disposable income, legal bootlegs and a record collection still waiting to be built.

But the fairs have changed too. The Camberwell Civic Centre used to be filled with second-hand and rare record dealers during the Camberwell Collectors Fair. These days it's probably a third to half records. The rest being comics, toys, cards and other useless crap.

I'll see how it goes today...

Just as I start claiming Google is the only one with the big ideas:

Amazon to sell books by the page:

Amazon Pages will dole out the data in increments--by chapter, section or even a single page. Thus, one needn't buy an entire book--although that option will exist, too--if all one desires is, say, a recipe or other chunk of how-to info.

They'll also let you access books you have already purchased, so you could read it online at work without having to lug the paper around.

You could purchase just the chapter or short story of a book you liked, or the chapter from a tech book on your particular problem or interest.

Although someone on Slashdot did point out they're just charging you for what you can already do for free. It's perfectly legal (even in Australia) to go to the library and photocopy a single chapter (no more than 10% of the book).

I suspect though that the Amazon price will be cheaper than photocopying and a lot easier.