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Kindle MatchBook

amazon.com

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Re: Kindle MatchBook

#91

Post by VLM »

dsizzle wrote: post #2

Nice! It always seemed odd that buying the paper version shouldn't also entitle me to the electronic version, or at least a significant discount.

Buy directly from oreilly or pragmatic (or probably others)

There's a different "deal" for every book, or so it seems, so I can't provide anything other than anecdotes WRT price. However both do the "radio button thing" on the main ordering page and you never pay full price for paper and ebook (at least never that I've seen)

I like how Pragmatic uploads the newest edition to my Dropbox if a newer edition is printed in the future. I don't believe they promise to do it in all cases, but it does at least occasionally happen. Always makes me smile, wanna buy some more from them... Cheap and effective marketing indeed.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#92

Post by raldi »

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.

Well, how do I find out which books are eligible, and at what price? Is it available now or coming soon? How do I sign up? Do the books have to be ones I bought through Amazon, or can I like take a picture or something of a book I got at a garage sale?

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#93

Post by 0003 »

nostromo wrote: post #35
toddmorey wrote: post #9

That's one of the best product names I've come across in a long while.

I was thinking the opposite. They've taken the analogy too far (Kindle, Kindle Fire, Matchbook). With the historical associations that come with "burning" and "books", I've always found the analogy awkward.

Optimistically, the name connotes that Amazon will match, for a de minimis fee, a digital book with your physical purchase.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#94

Post by theycallmemorty »

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.

"Get the e-book along with the physical book for a small fee"

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#95

Post by fredcy »

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 would use this with cookbooks. I like to refer to the printed copy in the kitchen but while shopping I could check ingredient lists from a reader.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#97

Post by mratzloff »

GFischer wrote: post #62
twistedpair wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What's the added value of a human giving you toilet paper? Now both you and the hypothetical toilet paper merchant can go and do more interesting things, maybe you'll meet at a gym, bar or social event instead of the random and sometimes awkward social experience of a commercial transaction. The human gets replaced by a robot doing the menial task, win for everyone (as long as the pie expands and he gets another more…

> The human gets replaced by a robot doing the menial task, win for everyone (as long as the pie expands and he gets another more meaningful job).

Your parenthetical aside is not a minor point.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#98

Post by unethical_ban »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #25
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 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…

I try not to purchase anything from Amazon if I can find an equivalent elsewhere. In the long term, a monopoly on retail is a bad thing for us, and I'm taking the long view.

EDIT: Though I must say, I've always wanted a print+digital feature, and if the paperwhite is as cool as they make it look...

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#99

Post by mratzloff »

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...

Amazon is a wasting disease. It is shuttering small businesses, putting thousands out of work, and filling a fraction of those jobs it destroys with sweatshop warehouse jobs. And in return, the president of the United States praises them for creating those jobs.

To say nothing of the negative impact they are having on authors. As with the music industry, it is becoming a superstar machine: either you quickly become a superstar, or you find yourself without a publisher.

Re: Kindle MatchBook

#100

Post by cjensen »

dsizzle wrote: post #77
hullo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are probably a number of complicated contractual issues to work out with authors even if a publisher is inclined to participate. It's no one's position here that publishers should just choose without consulting the authors, right?

It seems authors too need to opt in (again from keltex's comment).

When an Author opts-out of an Amazon program, Amazon sometimes opts-out of selling the Author's books.

Ref: http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/everything/2011-12-15.sht... search for "ebook pricing policy"

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