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Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

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Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#181

Post by brianbreslin »

chubot wrote: post #78
JunkDNA wrote: post #51

Lots of people in this thread are talking about this being scary for authors. When I was a kid, I got to read a ton of books any time I wanted. I got them at this place called a "library" where they let people come in and take books home with them to read for free . People have always had the option to read books without buying them. In those days, going to the library was effectively the same effort as going to a bo…

I'm a regular user of the local library, but I notice that most people in my "class" (i.e. tech people earning a lot) don't go there. It's easier to buy it on your Kindle for $10-$15 than to make a trip to the library. I'm gonna be a jerk and say that most people also like to hang out in expensive coffee shops with other members of their class, and not in the library where there are lots of poor people. It's a little…

I use my local library for a quiet co working space, but never borrow books because their inventory is horribly outdated. In my town many of the libraries are also where the homeless go to hangout, since air conditioning is key here in the south. I rarely see any other tech people at the library, but do see tons at the coffee shop a block away.

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#182

Post by TheMagicHorsey »

nlh wrote: post #176
TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #145

Most people don't spend $9.99 on books every month on average. If Amazon encourages people who are infrequent readers to devote more of their time/entertainment-dollars on reading, then this service will be a win-win for Amazon and authors. Also, if my service is all-you-can-eat, I'm definitely going to take more risks with authors I haven't heard about. That is a definite win for unknown and unpromoted authors. Some…

> Most people don't spend $9.99 on books every month on average. If Amazon encourages people who are infrequent readers to devote more of their time/entertainment-dollars on reading, then this service will be a win-win for Amazon and authors. Totally. I'm one of those people and right smack in the middle of the crosshairs for this. I'm the kind of person that is always willing to overpay in order to have "unlimited"…

Imagine if we could get access to the O'Reilly library of technical books, that would be extremely valuable.

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#183

Post by troymc »

learnist_13 wrote: post #105
JunkDNA wrote: post #51

Lots of people in this thread are talking about this being scary for authors. When I was a kid, I got to read a ton of books any time I wanted. I got them at this place called a "library" where they let people come in and take books home with them to read for free . People have always had the option to read books without buying them. In those days, going to the library was effectively the same effort as going to a bo…

I've always used Safari Books Online. I get every technical book I could imagine, and the company where I work pays for it. Amazon unlimited seems good for the people that enjoy fiction, but I don't think they will be able to compete on the technical stuff.

My local library (Burnaby Public Library) lets me access Safari Books Online using my library ID and I agree: it's awesome!

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#185

Post by roganp »

WalterBright wrote: post #120
psykotic wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> owning your own books has significant advantages, which I hope need not be restated here. I had to get rid of several hundred of my books years ago when I went traveling. It was tough since I had a lot of attachment to my physical books, but upon examination I realized there were few advantages and in my case many disadvantages. Exceptions are books you habitually reread or reference, but most novels fail that test…

I have several thousand books. Many I've cut & scanned into pdf's. It is just marvelous to be able to take with me that library when I travel - I never lack for something to browse. I no longer have to read those wretched in-flight magazines. My bookshelves are still crammed with books, but they've all got a date with the slicer! Mua-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! BTW, for examples of books I've cut & scanned, see http://www.genera…

I'm curious about this, I've got a bunch of books I don't want to throw away, but I'm tired of the space they occupy. Seems like scanning them would be a huge hassle though. Any special techniques that you use to do this? How long does a single book take to process?

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#186

Post by [deleted] »

nlh wrote: post #176
TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #145

Most people don't spend $9.99 on books every month on average. If Amazon encourages people who are infrequent readers to devote more of their time/entertainment-dollars on reading, then this service will be a win-win for Amazon and authors. Also, if my service is all-you-can-eat, I'm definitely going to take more risks with authors I haven't heard about. That is a definite win for unknown and unpromoted authors. Some…

> Most people don't spend $9.99 on books every month on average. If Amazon encourages people who are infrequent readers to devote more of their time/entertainment-dollars on reading, then this service will be a win-win for Amazon and authors. Totally. I'm one of those people and right smack in the middle of the crosshairs for this. I'm the kind of person that is always willing to overpay in order to have "unlimited"…

[deleted]

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#187

Post by ryanmonroe »

TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #145

Most people don't spend $9.99 on books every month on average. If Amazon encourages people who are infrequent readers to devote more of their time/entertainment-dollars on reading, then this service will be a win-win for Amazon and authors. Also, if my service is all-you-can-eat, I'm definitely going to take more risks with authors I haven't heard about. That is a definite win for unknown and unpromoted authors. Some…

I don't know whether you were implying this, but paying for "unlimited" services when you wouldn't otherwise spend the monthly (or annually, etc.) fee on that product isn't necessarily irrational. It may be that a person isn't willing to spend $5 a book on 2 books because a book is only worth, say, $1 to them. But given that returns diminish at a low rate, that person could be willing to buy, say, 20 books at $1 a piece. In that case, paying for an unlimited service that effectively lets them do so makes sense.

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#188

Post by mkr-hn »

rlpb wrote: post #172
debt wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unpopular but I really enjoy reading on my phone. It's small, it's always with me, it's much more convenient than lugging around a physical book(and I love physical books). But that's why I buy ebooks(they're just expensive which sucks). It's interesting to listen to the cascading excuses when bringing up books with friends. "Why not use a kindle?" "I like holding the physical book." "Oh, then why not go to the…

> You can save a ton of money using your local library though. I'm quite specific about what I want to read. My local library (that happens to be just round the corner) never has what I want. I often don't even seem to be able to order in what I want. So I gave up and just buy books on a Kindle instead.

I can get just about any book I want through the library: http://www.georgialibraries.org/public/pines.php

There's no catch. You order the book from whichever library has it, and they deliver it within a few days. Plus, the eBook loan program's collection gets bigger all the time. More states should adopt a system like this. The software behind PINES is free and open source: http://evergreen-ils.org/

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#189

Post by kruk »

debt wrote: post #87
chubot wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a regular user of the local library, but I notice that most people in my "class" (i.e. tech people earning a lot) don't go there. It's easier to buy it on your Kindle for $10-$15 than to make a trip to the library. I'm gonna be a jerk and say that most people also like to hang out in expensive coffee shops with other members of their class, and not in the library where there are lots of poor people. It's a little…

It's unpopular but I really enjoy reading on my phone. It's small, it's always with me, it's much more convenient than lugging around a physical book(and I love physical books). But that's why I buy ebooks(they're just expensive which sucks). It's interesting to listen to the cascading excuses when bringing up books with friends. "Why not use a kindle?" "I like holding the physical book." "Oh, then why not go to the…

These are all valid reasons. I read a lot of ebooks because I'm travelling a lot but if I move somewhere to stay there permanently I'm going to go back to buying physical books. As much for myself as for my kids to grow with books around.

Re: Amazon leaks Kindle Unlimited

#190

Post by walterbell »

gcb0 wrote: post #177
rlpb wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can save a ton of money using your local library though. I'm quite specific about what I want to read. My local library (that happens to be just round the corner) never has what I want. I often don't even seem to be able to order in what I want. So I gave up and just buy books on a Kindle instead.

last time i checked i could reserve on my local library probably a billion more books than what is available in the tiny kindle library. e.g. taocp

Yes, not to mention that some of the best books (e.g. by author R.A. Lafferty) are out of print and only available in libraries or for hundreds of dollars on the used market.

There's an entire corpus of literature between 1920 and 2014 that is out-of-print for licensing or estate reasons, rather than quality, much of which can be found in libraries.

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