It was announced today that search engine Google plans to offer consumers the chance to download and print classic novels free of charge.
The firm's book search tool will let people print classics such as Dante's Inferno or Aesop's Fables, as well as other books no longer under copyright.
Until now, the service has only let people read such books on-screen.
It was also announced that Apple Computer last night elected Google's CEO Eric Schmidt to its board of directors in a possible harbinger of an alliance between the technology titans.
'Eric is obviously doing a terrific job as CEO of Google, and we look forward to his contributions as a member of Apples board of directors,' Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said.
Schmidt has been Google's CEO since July of 2001 and became chairman of the Internet giant board's executive committee in 2004.
Schmidt joined Google from Novell, where he was chairman and chief executive officer before leaving the company in late 2001.
