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Kindle MatchBook

amazon.com

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Re: Kindle MatchBook

#41

Post by bornhuetter »

pdenya wrote: post #12

I came away from this confused thinking some Kindle versions of books were now cheaper. Amazon is horrible at explaining what things are supposed to do. Every product landing page I've seen from them is confusing, especially all of their cloud services.

Really? You must have missed the explanation right there in the middle of the page, underneath the title and picture:

Introducing Kindle MatchBook

For thousands of qualifying books, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases will soon allow you to buy the Kindle edition for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free.

I'm not sure how they could have stated that any more clearly.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#42

Post by MichaelGG »

res0nat0r wrote: post #26
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Charles Stross writings on ebooks is interesting and insightful. He should know: he's a tech-savvy best-selling author. (He hangs around here too: [1]) He wrote a couple of posts a year and a half ago, they still apply. In them, he explains how Amazon is making itself a monopoly, and that isn't good for anyone but them. What's been most informative to me is how tiny publishers actually are, and how little mon…

> It's also why I buy my books hardcover now: more cash for the author. Isn't this true, Amazon or not? Hardcovers cost the customer more than paperbacks or ebooks, so the author should be getting hopefully a larger cut of the sale. I think this program (if it has enough titles that I've bought in the past) is going to be awesome. I've never bought a Kindle because paying almost the same price for the Kindle version…

Hmm, I always bought the Kindle editions because physical books are a pain in the ass to read. Before the Kindle, I even resorted to a WinCE device (built-in backlight, easy rotation for any position). Kindle Paperwhite is simply the best reading experience I've ever had in my life.

The fact I could get a paper version doesn't even factor into my decision. Actually, the price rarely factors into the decision, as the difference is usually only a few bucks anyways.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#43

Post by mrtron »

dpcx wrote: post #18
mrtron wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It appears like for physical books you buy - you will be able to get the digital version cheap or free. It is an extremely unclear landing page.

Really? >>> For thousands of qualifying books, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases will soon allow you to buy the Kindle edition for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free. That seems pretty clear to me.

The design makes that sentence non-obvious to be the primary description. Additionally the sentence is difficult to scan.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#44

Post by dsizzle »

gdilla wrote: post #11

This is awesome for the consumer, absolutely. And it's only made possible by the recent DOJ trial that effectively allowed Amazon to set prices of ebooks (wholesale vs agency model). Recall that agency model, the publisher sets the price (the same as apps on the app store). But now that Amazon can set any price they want for ebooks (and take a loss on them if they want to, which they have done before), Amazon can do…

> I speculate publishers will hate this.

It seems publishers have to opt in (e.g., see comment by keltex below). (I suppose they could still hate the pressure to allow it?) Also, it seems they could make additional money with zero marginal costs.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#45

Post by rollo_tommasi »

ScottWhigham wrote: post #40
lukev wrote: post #10

This is a phenomenally important move; now, being an "ebook reader" or a "traditional reader" doesn't have to be an either/or proposition.

I think it's an interesting move, but not a "phenomenally important move". If I like print books but not ebooks, how does this affect me? It doesn't - not in the least. If I like both, I'm sort of happy - "Uh, I guess that's cool." I'm struggling to think of the person who needs both a printed copy of a book and an ebook version. The only person I can think of is someone with a textbook/learning book - you read the p…

I prefer printed books, but I frequently am reading on the subway, the train, the airport, etc, and so the portability of ebooks is a huge advantage. I'm definitely excited about being able to both pick up a printed copy of a book for leisurely reading at home and have my entire library in my pocket when I have to go fly somewhere.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#46

Post by pdenya »

bornhuetter wrote: post #41
pdenya wrote: post #12

I came away from this confused thinking some Kindle versions of books were now cheaper. Amazon is horrible at explaining what things are supposed to do. Every product landing page I've seen from them is confusing, especially all of their cloud services.

Really? You must have missed the explanation right there in the middle of the page, underneath the title and picture: Introducing Kindle MatchBook For thousands of qualifying books, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases will soon allow you to buy the Kindle edition for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free. I'm not sure how they could have stated that any more clearly.

"For thousands of qualifying books, your past, present, and future print-edition purchases" is difficult to parse. It reads like list(4) instead of statement, list(3). It sounds as if you don't need to purchase print editions to get certain qualifying books cheaply on kindle.

I'm glad you found it clear and straightforward but a glance through the comments here shows that several other people were also confused.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#48

Post by mrtron »

arjn wrote: post #29

So basically if you bought a book in the past from Amazon, you may be able to get a kindle version for up to $3. Its not a bad deal for customers and additional revenue in Amazon's coffers for a minor service. I think they should make it a flat rate at $0.50 and drop the variable pricing.

You can't due to publisher relationships.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#49

Post by aroman »

twistedpair wrote: post #38
apalmer wrote: post #31

I am turning on Amazon, it just feels fundamentally unfair that they destroyed the brick and mortar book industry precisely because they operate on the principal of never having to turn a profit. Its almost a monopolist abuse of the market...

Funny, Amazon is becoming quite like Wal-Mart, but we don't complain. When Wal-Mart comes to a town, the stampede away from the old shopping areas to the new Wal-Mart is alarmingly clear. However, with Amazon, their brick and mortar competitors are slowing fading away like apparitions as they are outmoded by new technology and trends. Further, with Amazon we don't have to notice the low paid hordes that run the machi…

This is a really really good point. What can be done, though?

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#50

Post by MichaelGG »

gdilla wrote: post #28
AceJohnny2 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Charles Stross writings on ebooks is interesting and insightful. He should know: he's a tech-savvy best-selling author. (He hangs around here too: [1]) He wrote a couple of posts a year and a half ago, they still apply. In them, he explains how Amazon is making itself a monopoly, and that isn't good for anyone but them. What's been most informative to me is how tiny publishers actually are, and how little mon…

Yeah.. I didn't think that through. Amazon becoming more monopolistic isn't 'absolutely' awesome for the consumer. You're right. Heck, the price of physical books on amazon may start to creep up now - no one can compete with them for miles anyway.

It's not absolutely awesome, but when you compare the competition, and look at Amazon's generally fantastic customer service, it does come out pretty awesomely for the consumer. Now and then I get riled up that I can't give my finished eBook to someone else, but then I remember I have Calibre and Google so it's not a big deal. (And once, when I had a problem purchasing on Amazon, I just downloaded the book and bought it a couple days later. DRM isn't really a hassle in practise.)

Publishers did it to themselves, being idiotically worried about piracy, instead of pushing for standards and selling directly. They gave Amazon the market out of their own stupidity. So you can't blame Amazon for picking up on that.

Maybe one day Amazon will turn around and act hostile towards customers, but so far, everyone I know has had only excellent experiences (OTOH, my overall Amazon spend is sorta high, so maybe I've got a gold star on my account). Even on the earlier Kindles, they'd overnight me replacements for damage; once they even sent an extra one and were sorta confused when I tried to return it (I hadn't paid for it).

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