Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#51

Post by yequalsx » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 1:28 PM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #37

yequalsx wrote: post #9

Amazon is doing a very good job of enticing people to buy the Kindle Fire. I opted to get a Kindle Touch instead of the Fire or an iPad. What's interesting is that I don't even think about getting an iPad. I would have gotten one had Apple upgraded the camera for the iPad. But then the announcement for the Fire and Kindle Touch came out. All other tablet makers have been trying to compete with Apple by copying Apple.…

I'm a bit confused by your comments. You weren't interested in the iPad, were interested in the Kindle Fire, but got a touch instead? Is that right? I've got the HP Touchpad, and don't really use it. I don't think the tablet market is as important as the marketing hype is saying it is. I suspect we are going to see more dedicated touch devices for specific uses, like the kindle (non-fire) rather than the do-everythin…

I had been thinking about getting an iPad. But iPad has some deficiencies which kept me on the fence. I was hoping for an update but none came. Then Amazon came out with its announcement. I ended up preordering a Kindle Touch but now am thinking about a Fire/Amazon Prime combination. I'm not thinking about the iPad anymore.

I've thought that Google should buy Netflix and have Netflix handle the consumer aspects of Google.

It might be hard to transition YouTube to include a service that rents/streams movies but Google is trying that right now. They haven't advertised it well and they didn't try doing this until recently. They've moved slowly.

Amazon and Netflix have very good customer service. When there is a problem I can get it fixed. I don't trust Google with customer service and this is why I can't ever see myself using a paid Google service. Google has dropped the ball in this respect. They have a great brand in YouTube and could have a great brand in Google Books but they just can't seem to create an atmosphere where consumers go to them for their purchases.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#52

Post by Leynos » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 2:07 PM UTC

trobertson wrote: post #39

Tichy wrote: post #38

Does Prime make a lot of sense in the US? In Germany I don't quite get it, because mail only takes two days anyway. It seems at most I would save a day here or then with a certain probability. Not enough to warrant the cost, and one book per month doesn't change that much.

It actually makes a lot of sense. The thing you need to remember about the US is that it is huge. Oftentimes, when you order something, it has to be shipped from ~3000 miles away. The 'standard' shipping time is 3-5 days, but is more often closer to a week. Guaranteed 2 day shipping is very convenient, and well worth the $80 a year it costs. Especially when you consider the included streaming of movies, TV shows, and…

Unfortunately the streaming service seems to be a US only thing which further reduces the value of the service to those elsewhere.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#53

Post by vsl2 » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 2:10 PM UTC

I see Amazon trying to build itself, at high cost (I'm sure the Prime membership doesn't cover all of the videos/books licensing plus free 2 day shipping), as the major source of digital entertainment content delivered through the Internet.

Once they've become the primary source and particularly if they're able to control access through their own hardware (Kindle devices), they'll be able to negotiate from a position of power with content providers. Without this type of negotiating power, Amazon (or any other digital media medium like Pandora, Netflix) will always be at the mercy of content creators.

Obviously, Amazon also has its dominant Internet retailing business so its in a good place regardless of whether the digital media services are successful. They now just want to rule the Internet world too.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#54

Post by adestefan » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 2:37 PM UTC

dsplittgerber wrote: post #31

Does anyone know if your bookmarks and annotations stay saved on your Kindle even after returning the ebook? It's all I really care about after having finished a book - saving my bookmarks/annotations for future reference.

At the end of the help section:

Bookmarks, notes, and highlights are all available on Kindle Owners' Lending Library titles, and will be saved to your Amazon.com account. Should you ever borrow or purchase the book in the future, your notes and highlights will be available for you.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#55

Post by zheng » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 2:38 PM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #37

yequalsx wrote: post #9

Amazon is doing a very good job of enticing people to buy the Kindle Fire. I opted to get a Kindle Touch instead of the Fire or an iPad. What's interesting is that I don't even think about getting an iPad. I would have gotten one had Apple upgraded the camera for the iPad. But then the announcement for the Fire and Kindle Touch came out. All other tablet makers have been trying to compete with Apple by copying Apple.…

I'm a bit confused by your comments. You weren't interested in the iPad, were interested in the Kindle Fire, but got a touch instead? Is that right? I've got the HP Touchpad, and don't really use it. I don't think the tablet market is as important as the marketing hype is saying it is. I suspect we are going to see more dedicated touch devices for specific uses, like the kindle (non-fire) rather than the do-everythin…

> I suspect we are going to see more dedicated touch devices for specific uses, like the kindle (non-fire) rather than the do-everything tablets that you'll just take everywhere.

Just like we have a mobile phone and an mp3 player and a GPS, right? I see the exact opposite trend, and I think amazon does too, hence the fire.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#56

Post by alttag » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 2:48 PM UTC

sliverstorm wrote: post #18

res0nat0r wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12 free books a year say at average cost of $10 is still $120 of added value to a Prime subscription.

Plus that's still more books than the average American reads every year.

... but not more books than I read in a year.

The problem with that stat is that it includes the great number of people who read zero books in a year, which skews the average pretty significantly.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#57

Post by alttag » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 3:06 PM UTC

ryanfitz wrote: post #4

is there an easy way to see or search for books that are available for this?

I think it's a great question. I have an older generation Kindle 2, so do about half of my kindle shopping via a computer. It's too slow otherwise. (More specifically, browsing via a computer, specific purchases sometimes through the kindle.) I'd love to be able to filter to the lending library through my desktop.

If I have to browse lending title over 3G, I'm less likely to do it. Maybe that's the point.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#58

Post by mikecarlucci » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 3:52 PM UTC

adestefan wrote: post #54

dsplittgerber wrote: post #31

Does anyone know if your bookmarks and annotations stay saved on your Kindle even after returning the ebook? It's all I really care about after having finished a book - saving my bookmarks/annotations for future reference.

At the end of the help section: Bookmarks, notes, and highlights are all available on Kindle Owners' Lending Library titles, and will be saved to your Amazon.com account. Should you ever borrow or purchase the book in the future, your notes and highlights will be available for you.

What would be great would be a discount to purchase books you've already borrowed for free. Or just include book credits like Audible. Each year your Prime membership gives you 12 credits that can be used to purchase books.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#59

Post by _pius » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 4:05 PM UTC

trobertson wrote: post #39

Tichy wrote: post #38

Does Prime make a lot of sense in the US? In Germany I don't quite get it, because mail only takes two days anyway. It seems at most I would save a day here or then with a certain probability. Not enough to warrant the cost, and one book per month doesn't change that much.

It actually makes a lot of sense. The thing you need to remember about the US is that it is huge. Oftentimes, when you order something, it has to be shipped from ~3000 miles away. The 'standard' shipping time is 3-5 days, but is more often closer to a week. Guaranteed 2 day shipping is very convenient, and well worth the $80 a year it costs. Especially when you consider the included streaming of movies, TV shows, and…

Exactly. Plus, it reduces the cost of next day shipping dramatically.

Re: Amazon Prime’s new killer app: Kindle books by subscription

#60

Post by mikecarlucci » Thu, Nov 03, 2011, 4:23 PM UTC

chrisledet wrote: post #6

bennesvig wrote: post #2

Oh man...so tempting to get a Kindle now despite having an iPad 2.

I don't see why you can't just use the Kindle app for this.

Amazon must have concluded that people with Kindle hardware would be more likely to buy books than those with who have Prime but an iPad which uses the Kindle, Nook, and iBook stores to name a few.

Maybe they'll loosen that restriction after the holidays when the free Prime trials from the initial round of Kindle Fire sales will have expired, potentially adding many new Prime subscribers.