With Libgen being around, i feel like the problem mentioned in the article partially sorted itself out(assuming the higher quality/use books go to libgen). So we've got the data.

But the layer above, the application layer, could use much more work. It won't happen in the legal realm[1], but i wonder what kind of amazing things we could achieve if we found a way to create a wide and deep developer ecosystem around Libgen, dedicated to help make this data useful?

[1]Altough i think the focus of the legal project is a bit all-or-nothing, and if Google had decided to focus only of subset of books(which it can get legal rights), and create the best applications possible, they could create a ton of value.