8 ms·

Oyster, Netflix for books, is launching the beta version of its iPhone app

60 points by denzil_correa 13y ago

sinkasapa 13y ago
How about we just support our public libraries? I haven't found a better alternative and I'm already paying for it.
- baddox 13y ago
  An online library has the same advantage over a physical library as Amazon has over physical retail stores and Netflix has over physical video rental stores: massive long-tail inventory.
  - nandhp 13y ago
    And all we need to get that massive+long tail inventory is for Overdrive (the ebook system used by public libraries) to offer "inter-library loan".
wraith4000 13y ago
I love the idea(though I'd never buy it on an iPhone), but I can't see this playing out well for the authors. I see no mention of how much they get.
zphds 13y ago
This looks neat but I find it weird that they targeted the iPhone first instead of the iPad. Isn't reading on iPhone hard?
- bphogan 13y ago
  Not to me. But then, I used to read audiobooks on my Palm Pilot in 2001.
  - nfailor 13y ago
    psah, haven't lived unless you did it on the 1k.
  - TwistedWeasel 13y ago
    you read "audio" books?
    - autodidakto 13y ago
      How can a book itself be "audio", anyway? And if books become audio by default someday, what will current books be called? "Written" books? I propose: "I audio-read an audio-book".
- officemonkey 13y ago
  I read the entire "Game of Thrones" book series and "The Count of Monte-Cristo" (and most of the other reading I've done in the last two years) on a iPod touch. The new 5th Generation screen is quite nice in Landscape mode.
  - zphds 13y ago
    Wow... I tried reading with the Kindle app on my Samsung Note. I couldn't do it. The 7 inch tablet on the other hand...
    - officemonkey 13y ago
      I do most of my reading on mass transit, so carrying 100 books in my shirt pocket means I always have something to read. I initially read on a Kindle 3rd Generation eReader, but they were pretty fragile (I had three break on me in 18-months time), so I got used to using my iPod Touch. I'm so used to it now, I've lost interest in reading physical books.
    - officemonkey 13y ago
      The retina display makes a big difference.
Urgo 13y ago
iphone only, meh.
untog 13y ago
Oyster? Really? Like the Oyster travel site: http://www.oyster.com/ http://www.oyster.com/ Or the Oyster travel card: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx ?
- trequartista 13y ago
  The FAQ mentions about the choice of the name Oyster - https://www.oysterbooks.com/help/faq https://www.oysterbooks.com/help/faq "Oyster takes inspiration from the famous literary line in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, "the world's mine oyster." All the pleasures of reading are yours for the taking, no matter where you go."
  - nfailor 13y ago
    ...which is precisely why it worked well for travel and cards...
- nmcfarl 13y ago
  Really the name belongs to a bivalve and everyone else is ripping off an entire species. I'm tired of thinking people are going to be able to pay for their tube fare with a mollusc - only to find out after reading it's really some silly smartcard!
- smackfu 13y ago
  Never heard of the site, and the travel card is UK only. So not too big a conflict.
  - Semiapies 13y ago
    Don't get why this post was being downvoted when I saw it. Trademark allows for similarly-named companies in different businesses. The point is to prevent confusion, not cause a land-rush to monopolize common words.
TallGuyShort 13y ago
I'm yearning for the day somebody applies that business model to audio books... </wishlist>
- cjensen 13y ago
  My local library includes online access to both audiobooks and ebooks. It's worth checking out your local library's services...
- hatu 13y ago
  Hasn't Audible done this for a long time already?
  - TallGuyShort 13y ago
    You're right - I guess I'm thinking more of the Kindle business model (I was thrown off by all the Amazon references). With Audible, I believe you have to stream the books, but when I want to listen to an audio book, I usually don't have a reliable connection (e.g. road trips). It would be great if you could download the audio (even temporarily, much as I hate DRM) as part of the subscription. Since I'm now talking about a different model entirely, I'm afraid I'm well and truly off-topic. Sorry :)
    - hatu 13y ago
      I did the Audible free trial for a month and you can download through the app instead of streaming. It's worth a try if you're looking for something like that.
    - RandallBrown 13y ago
      with Audible you have to download the files. You can only stream 50 mb of the book (about 3 hours) You only get 1 book a month with the base Audible subscription, but you get pretty heavy discounts on purchasing books. You also get to keep the audiobook.
  - darkchasma 13y ago
    No, I pay $23 a month for two books, which I own, but there is no 'all you can eat' deal.
anigbrowl 13y ago
The model is just too compelling for consumers: Pay a reasonable price, get access to all the content you want without having to own it I quite like owning my books, actually. There's already an alternative to doing so, called a library; since the book sales business did quite well int he pre-internet days despite the widespread availability of libraries, I'm not sure why the author thinks a functioning e-book library is suddenly going to bring sales to a screeching halt.
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  I feel the same way. I love owning my stuff. My MP3 files, my ebooks, my hardcopies, vinyls, cd's, etc. All this "in the cloud" stuff just adds an extra overhead to my already stressful life. "Will this company perish and all my shit be gone? Is it secure?" are questions I always think about. When I have that physical copy, the (mostly) only person I have to blame is myself for not maintaining my items integrity.
  - __abc 13y ago
    Different strokes. Owning that stuff would add way more overhead and stress for me. Different folks.
    - guiambros 13y ago
      .. or the same folks, at a different life stages. I used to love to own stuff. Had great pride of my mp3 collection with pristine ID3 tags, my Star Trek TNG collection, or the piles of magazines and books... After my last couple of moves between cities, I got tired of having to carry stuff around. Or to keep things organized, sync'ed, backed up across multiple devices. What a waste of time and money. Can't say I won this battle yet, but at least I started to be more rational. Started donating half my books, and only purchasing ebooks (except for programming languages; still prefer the dead tree version). Also gave away DVDs, almost all CDs (still need to rip a few rare ones before giving away). Threw away most magazines, except for MakeMag and Circuit Cellar. A couple of more moves and I'll be really free :) ps: speaking of donating stuff, a friend created an awesome startup for exactly that reason: http://www.bondsy.com http://www.bondsy.com. Rather useful for things that you still care, but it's time to find a new home for it.
patmcc 13y ago
The "Netflix for books" is, and has long been, libraries. And yes, almost all of them have an ebook program in addition to their huge supply of paper books.
- rdl 13y ago
  Is Overdrive (the library ebook system I see everywhere) intentionally painful to use (to deter users), or just horribly implemented?
  - nandhp 13y ago
    It isn't great. But many libraries have rolled out a new version of Overdrive that's noticably better (even if it's the same implemention, it's at least less confusing). For example, NYPL New York doesn't have it yet, but Los Angeles Public Library does: http://lapl.lib.overdrive.com/ http://lapl.lib.overdrive.com/
- Thrall 13y ago
  Our local libraries recently started an ebook program. However, copyright restrictions mean they aren't allowed to loan a single 'copy' out to more than one person at once. With the relatively small number of ebook copies available compared to the number of library users, last time I checked there was a long waiting list for most books. Perhaps ironically, it is quicker to go to the library and borrow a paper copy. (The irony being that one of the advantages of ebooks over paper books is that you don't have to wait for them to be delivered)
  - greenyoda 13y ago
    I suspect that as e-books become more popular, libraries are going to license them in larger quantities. They're a big cost saver for libraries since they take no space to store, no labor to re-shelve and can't be damaged or stolen.
    - vertex-four 13y ago
      The trouble with this is that without legislation in place to control the pricing of e-books as sold to libraries, e-book publishers use a number of tricks, from significantly higher pricing to making each license only valid for a set number of borrows before another license has to be bought, which negates the "they can't be damaged" benefit. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/06/ebooks-on-borrowed-time http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/06/ebooks-on-borro...
GotNothing 13y ago
For $9.95 a month, I'd rather support my local library/bookstore. Unlike movies, where I could watch 5-6 on a really lazy Saturday, books take quite a bit more time. I'm a pretty regular reader and I'm lucky if I get through 2 books a month. Based on: http://gawker.com/5971571/are-you-an-above+average-book-reader http://gawker.com/5971571/are-you-an-above+average-book-read... I read about the average (outlier) person, so for $9.95 I'd rather own the one or two books I can read that month, which would cost close (give or take) to the same amount as they're offering.
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  my thoughts exactly. they're supposedly targeting the casual reader, but how many casual readers read more than 1 book a month? at one book a month the pricing model makes no sense. it's really at 4 books a month where it starts to look cheap, but 1 book a week is a very steep hill for most people. reading is an active activity unlike tv or music which are inherently passive. IMO that makes a big difference in how much we can consume the medium.
  - tekalon 13y ago
    I would say this is for those that can get through 4-5+ books a month (like me and others I know). Not for everyone, but I know many that would find this better than having an actual monthly book budget. Libraries also have similar programs for ebooks (or at least mine does).
    - hkmurakami 13y ago
      Yup I discovered from a friend that my library has a similar ebook checkout program. I wonder how the terms and selections compare, since libraries seem to be doing an inept job at advertising this feature which could potentially just kill this startup
- draz 13y ago
  I read on my commute to/from work. Not sure about the # of books I finish a month, but I can say that I may be willing to "experiment" more with books I wouldn't have otherwise. No downside to read the first 3 chapters and then switch to another book, if you don't like it. I think, therefore, that it might be a nice DISCOVERY tool.
davidcollantes 13y ago
This would work great if it offered schoolbooks. Rather than buying a very expensive book, I would not mind "renting" it on a month by month basis.
- greenyoda 13y ago
  Amazon.com already has an option for renting textbooks.
hatu 13y ago
This is a tough sell. An iPhone screen is not great to read on and to get enough mileage out of this you'd have to read a couple of books a month on it. If I could get something like this on my Kindle which is actually good on your eyes I might consider it.
- greenyoda 13y ago
  Amazon has a Kindle owners' lending library: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000739811 http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=10007398...
impostervt 13y ago
I really wish someone would make a netflix for audio-books. I'm aware of Audible and it's competitors, but they all seem to limit you to 1 or 2 books per month.
dankoss 13y ago
Why hasn't this already been done by Amazon, or Google Books? I understand Prime has something similar, but only for select books. Is this purely a publisher licensing issue? If so, wouldn't Amazon/Google have more leverage to make it happen?
- pico303 13y ago
  If you read the article, Oyster is for select books too (100k, vs. Amazon's 350k). But for Amazon you have to have a Kindle. Won't work with the Kindle app on tablets, phones, or desktop.
  - dublinben 13y ago
    You can buy a gently used Kindle Touch for $40, and new for only $70. It will more than pay for itself in terms of free books in under a year.
unono 13y ago
All-you-can-buffet movies/tv and now books is done. That same for home renting, car renting, vacationing, plane flying, private schooling, food eating needs to be done. Huge profits for hackers that can do it.
- JadeNB 13y ago
  > All-you-can-buffet movies/tv and now books is done. That same for home renting, car renting, vacationing, plane flying, private schooling, food eating needs to be done. Huge profits for hackers that can do it. I must be missing the joke, but are you really suggesting that what the world is missing is all-you-can-eat food? Like … a buffet?
ngoel36 13y ago
Congrats to the team on the launch! I know they've been hard at work for quite a while. Getting deals with the necessary publishers could not have been easy without the clout of a large brand name like Amazon. I'm sure the iPhone-only offering might prove controversial, but I don't doubt that an iPad version will be coming soon. iPhone-only makes sense for me - I prefer to read books in short chunks: on the Muni, waiting in line, a few minutes before bed, etc. The Kindle app has done an excellent job of making the best of the limited real estate, I'm optimistic that Oyster will do so as well.
zzzmarcus 13y ago
It seems like the main complaints are that: - It's iPhone only. This will, of course, change. They have to launch somewhere first. - We already have public libraries and Overdrive. Sure, they are out there but they don't solve the problem that Oyster does. If you just want to flip through a bunch of books and see what you feel like reading, your current options are to go to a physical bookstore or library or hope Amazon or Google Books has enough to satisfy you in their limited previews. Imagine that as you're reading a book, you come across a reference another and being able to easily jump to the reference with no hassles like putting the book on hold (as is almost always the case on Overdrive) or reaching a check out limit or having to get in the car and go find a hard copy. Even the Kindle lenders library heavily restricts the number of books you can use at once. Having the full text of an ever-growing library at your fingertips is, if using Spotify is a close enough parallel, something that can't be fully appreciated until it's experienced. - Price. If you usually buy at least one book a month and you can assume you'll probably do that indefinitely then it makes sense to instead start paying Oyster (or similar) indefinitely to get not one book a month, but all the books. - Authors don't get paid. I think it's to early to say whether this will work out for authors or not. We don't know the business model. If it doesn't work for authors and publishers, they'll stop using it and Oyster will have to change their business model. In fact, this is the biggest risk as I see it. Netflix started with a good catalog and, for awhile, had a great catalog of movies. Now they're losing content and having to create their own, most of which I have no interest in. If publishers were to fall out of love with Oyster, Oyster's value would be severely diminished so they'll have to do what it takes to keep publishers (and hopefully by extension, authors) happy. One thing to consider, and maybe this is not as common as I'm guessing, but there are so many times where I've read a Kindle book and decided to buy a paper version to give the book a physical presence in my house. For certain authors, this could mean getting paid twice when people read their books.
- epochwolf 13y ago
  I wish they had an iPad app or a way to send books to my kindle. Reading on my phone sucks. :(
javanix 13y ago
If they could port this to Kindle somehow (or partner with a physical, non-backlit reader manufacturer) I would be in in a heartbeat. Until then I wish them luck and sincerely hope this sort of business model takes off.
dave_sullivan 13y ago
I said exactly this to my girlfriend about a year ago: "I've got a genius idea, what about a netflix for books?" She said, "You mean a library?" Now I'm not sure who was right...
- jedberg 13y ago
  From what I can tell it is for ebooks, so not quite a library. :)
jedberg 13y ago
They really shouldn't call it "Netflix for books" because then they'll just get a constant stream of "you mean a library?". They should call it "Netflix for ebooks".
phaedrix 13y ago
So...Would have to read books on an LCD screen instead of a nice-on-the-eyes Kindle screen? No thanks.
- dan-bell 13y ago
  I'm hoping for a future with faster refresh E-Ink screens available on low spec, stripped down Android or FirefoxOS powered tablets.
garg 13y ago
Please support your local libraries and local bookstores. I hope libraries are never turned into historic relics.
njharman 13y ago
I couldn't find any indication if this mailed physical books or is just eBooks. Disclaimer, I only skimmed article (its breathless hype style is too annoying/worthless to read in detail). If just eBooks, total complete meh.
kermitten 13y ago
It would be good to see which books they have before signing up. I like the idea though a little expensive.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
shire 13y ago
This would be a neat idea if it's free considering I can read as many books as I want for free at the library "paperback" might I add. Sorry but the library deserves my support more than your service.

60 points by denzil_correa 13y ago

sinkasapa 13y ago

How about we just support our public libraries? I haven't found a better alternative and I'm already paying for it.

baddox 13y ago
An online library has the same advantage over a physical library as Amazon has over physical retail stores and Netflix has over physical video rental stores: massive long-tail inventory.
- nandhp 13y ago
  And all we need to get that massive+long tail inventory is for Overdrive (the ebook system used by public libraries) to offer "inter-library loan".

wraith4000 13y ago

I love the idea(though I'd never buy it on an iPhone), but I can't see this playing out well for the authors. I see no mention of how much they get.

zphds 13y ago

This looks neat but I find it weird that they targeted the iPhone first instead of the iPad. Isn't reading on iPhone hard?

bphogan 13y ago
Not to me. But then, I used to read audiobooks on my Palm Pilot in 2001.
- nfailor 13y ago
  psah, haven't lived unless you did it on the 1k.
- TwistedWeasel 13y ago
  you read "audio" books?
  - autodidakto 13y ago
    How can a book itself be "audio", anyway? And if books become audio by default someday, what will current books be called? "Written" books? I propose: "I audio-read an audio-book".
officemonkey 13y ago
I read the entire "Game of Thrones" book series and "The Count of Monte-Cristo" (and most of the other reading I've done in the last two years) on a iPod touch. The new 5th Generation screen is quite nice in Landscape mode.
- zphds 13y ago
  Wow... I tried reading with the Kindle app on my Samsung Note. I couldn't do it. The 7 inch tablet on the other hand...
  - officemonkey 13y ago
    I do most of my reading on mass transit, so carrying 100 books in my shirt pocket means I always have something to read. I initially read on a Kindle 3rd Generation eReader, but they were pretty fragile (I had three break on me in 18-months time), so I got used to using my iPod Touch. I'm so used to it now, I've lost interest in reading physical books.
  - officemonkey 13y ago
    The retina display makes a big difference.

Urgo 13y ago

iphone only, meh.

untog 13y ago

Oyster? Really? Like the Oyster travel site: http://www.oyster.com/ http://www.oyster.com/ Or the Oyster travel card: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx ?

trequartista 13y ago
The FAQ mentions about the choice of the name Oyster - https://www.oysterbooks.com/help/faq https://www.oysterbooks.com/help/faq "Oyster takes inspiration from the famous literary line in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, "the world's mine oyster." All the pleasures of reading are yours for the taking, no matter where you go."
- nfailor 13y ago
  ...which is precisely why it worked well for travel and cards...
nmcfarl 13y ago
Really the name belongs to a bivalve and everyone else is ripping off an entire species. I'm tired of thinking people are going to be able to pay for their tube fare with a mollusc - only to find out after reading it's really some silly smartcard!
smackfu 13y ago
Never heard of the site, and the travel card is UK only. So not too big a conflict.
- Semiapies 13y ago
  Don't get why this post was being downvoted when I saw it. Trademark allows for similarly-named companies in different businesses. The point is to prevent confusion, not cause a land-rush to monopolize common words.

TallGuyShort 13y ago

I'm yearning for the day somebody applies that business model to audio books... </wishlist>

cjensen 13y ago
My local library includes online access to both audiobooks and ebooks. It's worth checking out your local library's services...
hatu 13y ago
Hasn't Audible done this for a long time already?
- TallGuyShort 13y ago
  You're right - I guess I'm thinking more of the Kindle business model (I was thrown off by all the Amazon references). With Audible, I believe you have to stream the books, but when I want to listen to an audio book, I usually don't have a reliable connection (e.g. road trips). It would be great if you could download the audio (even temporarily, much as I hate DRM) as part of the subscription. Since I'm now talking about a different model entirely, I'm afraid I'm well and truly off-topic. Sorry :)
  - hatu 13y ago
    I did the Audible free trial for a month and you can download through the app instead of streaming. It's worth a try if you're looking for something like that.
  - RandallBrown 13y ago
    with Audible you have to download the files. You can only stream 50 mb of the book (about 3 hours) You only get 1 book a month with the base Audible subscription, but you get pretty heavy discounts on purchasing books. You also get to keep the audiobook.
- darkchasma 13y ago
  No, I pay $23 a month for two books, which I own, but there is no 'all you can eat' deal.

anigbrowl 13y ago

The model is just too compelling for consumers: Pay a reasonable price, get access to all the content you want without having to own it I quite like owning my books, actually. There's already an alternative to doing so, called a library; since the book sales business did quite well int he pre-internet days despite the widespread availability of libraries, I'm not sure why the author thinks a functioning e-book library is suddenly going to bring sales to a screeching halt.

rfnslyr 13y ago
I feel the same way. I love owning my stuff. My MP3 files, my ebooks, my hardcopies, vinyls, cd's, etc. All this "in the cloud" stuff just adds an extra overhead to my already stressful life. "Will this company perish and all my shit be gone? Is it secure?" are questions I always think about. When I have that physical copy, the (mostly) only person I have to blame is myself for not maintaining my items integrity.
- __abc 13y ago
  Different strokes. Owning that stuff would add way more overhead and stress for me. Different folks.
  - guiambros 13y ago
    .. or the same folks, at a different life stages. I used to love to own stuff. Had great pride of my mp3 collection with pristine ID3 tags, my Star Trek TNG collection, or the piles of magazines and books... After my last couple of moves between cities, I got tired of having to carry stuff around. Or to keep things organized, sync'ed, backed up across multiple devices. What a waste of time and money. Can't say I won this battle yet, but at least I started to be more rational. Started donating half my books, and only purchasing ebooks (except for programming languages; still prefer the dead tree version). Also gave away DVDs, almost all CDs (still need to rip a few rare ones before giving away). Threw away most magazines, except for MakeMag and Circuit Cellar. A couple of more moves and I'll be really free :) ps: speaking of donating stuff, a friend created an awesome startup for exactly that reason: http://www.bondsy.com http://www.bondsy.com. Rather useful for things that you still care, but it's time to find a new home for it.

patmcc 13y ago

The "Netflix for books" is, and has long been, libraries. And yes, almost all of them have an ebook program in addition to their huge supply of paper books.

rdl 13y ago
Is Overdrive (the library ebook system I see everywhere) intentionally painful to use (to deter users), or just horribly implemented?
- nandhp 13y ago
  It isn't great. But many libraries have rolled out a new version of Overdrive that's noticably better (even if it's the same implemention, it's at least less confusing). For example, NYPL New York doesn't have it yet, but Los Angeles Public Library does: http://lapl.lib.overdrive.com/ http://lapl.lib.overdrive.com/
Thrall 13y ago
Our local libraries recently started an ebook program. However, copyright restrictions mean they aren't allowed to loan a single 'copy' out to more than one person at once. With the relatively small number of ebook copies available compared to the number of library users, last time I checked there was a long waiting list for most books. Perhaps ironically, it is quicker to go to the library and borrow a paper copy. (The irony being that one of the advantages of ebooks over paper books is that you don't have to wait for them to be delivered)
- greenyoda 13y ago
  I suspect that as e-books become more popular, libraries are going to license them in larger quantities. They're a big cost saver for libraries since they take no space to store, no labor to re-shelve and can't be damaged or stolen.
  - vertex-four 13y ago
    The trouble with this is that without legislation in place to control the pricing of e-books as sold to libraries, e-book publishers use a number of tricks, from significantly higher pricing to making each license only valid for a set number of borrows before another license has to be bought, which negates the "they can't be damaged" benefit. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/06/ebooks-on-borrowed-time http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/06/ebooks-on-borro...

GotNothing 13y ago

For $9.95 a month, I'd rather support my local library/bookstore. Unlike movies, where I could watch 5-6 on a really lazy Saturday, books take quite a bit more time. I'm a pretty regular reader and I'm lucky if I get through 2 books a month. Based on: http://gawker.com/5971571/are-you-an-above+average-book-reader http://gawker.com/5971571/are-you-an-above+average-book-read... I read about the average (outlier) person, so for $9.95 I'd rather own the one or two books I can read that month, which would cost close (give or take) to the same amount as they're offering.

hkmurakami 13y ago
my thoughts exactly. they're supposedly targeting the casual reader, but how many casual readers read more than 1 book a month? at one book a month the pricing model makes no sense. it's really at 4 books a month where it starts to look cheap, but 1 book a week is a very steep hill for most people. reading is an active activity unlike tv or music which are inherently passive. IMO that makes a big difference in how much we can consume the medium.
- tekalon 13y ago
  I would say this is for those that can get through 4-5+ books a month (like me and others I know). Not for everyone, but I know many that would find this better than having an actual monthly book budget. Libraries also have similar programs for ebooks (or at least mine does).
  - hkmurakami 13y ago
    Yup I discovered from a friend that my library has a similar ebook checkout program. I wonder how the terms and selections compare, since libraries seem to be doing an inept job at advertising this feature which could potentially just kill this startup
draz 13y ago
I read on my commute to/from work. Not sure about the # of books I finish a month, but I can say that I may be willing to "experiment" more with books I wouldn't have otherwise. No downside to read the first 3 chapters and then switch to another book, if you don't like it. I think, therefore, that it might be a nice DISCOVERY tool.

davidcollantes 13y ago

This would work great if it offered schoolbooks. Rather than buying a very expensive book, I would not mind "renting" it on a month by month basis.

greenyoda 13y ago
Amazon.com already has an option for renting textbooks.

hatu 13y ago

This is a tough sell. An iPhone screen is not great to read on and to get enough mileage out of this you'd have to read a couple of books a month on it. If I could get something like this on my Kindle which is actually good on your eyes I might consider it.

greenyoda 13y ago
Amazon has a Kindle owners' lending library: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000739811 http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=10007398...

impostervt 13y ago

I really wish someone would make a netflix for audio-books. I'm aware of Audible and it's competitors, but they all seem to limit you to 1 or 2 books per month.

dankoss 13y ago

Why hasn't this already been done by Amazon, or Google Books? I understand Prime has something similar, but only for select books. Is this purely a publisher licensing issue? If so, wouldn't Amazon/Google have more leverage to make it happen?

pico303 13y ago
If you read the article, Oyster is for select books too (100k, vs. Amazon's 350k). But for Amazon you have to have a Kindle. Won't work with the Kindle app on tablets, phones, or desktop.
- dublinben 13y ago
  You can buy a gently used Kindle Touch for $40, and new for only $70. It will more than pay for itself in terms of free books in under a year.

unono 13y ago

All-you-can-buffet movies/tv and now books is done. That same for home renting, car renting, vacationing, plane flying, private schooling, food eating needs to be done. Huge profits for hackers that can do it.

JadeNB 13y ago
> All-you-can-buffet movies/tv and now books is done. That same for home renting, car renting, vacationing, plane flying, private schooling, food eating needs to be done. Huge profits for hackers that can do it. I must be missing the joke, but are you really suggesting that what the world is missing is all-you-can-eat food? Like … a buffet?

ngoel36 13y ago

Congrats to the team on the launch! I know they've been hard at work for quite a while. Getting deals with the necessary publishers could not have been easy without the clout of a large brand name like Amazon. I'm sure the iPhone-only offering might prove controversial, but I don't doubt that an iPad version will be coming soon. iPhone-only makes sense for me - I prefer to read books in short chunks: on the Muni, waiting in line, a few minutes before bed, etc. The Kindle app has done an excellent job of making the best of the limited real estate, I'm optimistic that Oyster will do so as well.

zzzmarcus 13y ago

It seems like the main complaints are that: - It's iPhone only. This will, of course, change. They have to launch somewhere first. - We already have public libraries and Overdrive. Sure, they are out there but they don't solve the problem that Oyster does. If you just want to flip through a bunch of books and see what you feel like reading, your current options are to go to a physical bookstore or library or hope Amazon or Google Books has enough to satisfy you in their limited previews. Imagine that as you're reading a book, you come across a reference another and being able to easily jump to the reference with no hassles like putting the book on hold (as is almost always the case on Overdrive) or reaching a check out limit or having to get in the car and go find a hard copy. Even the Kindle lenders library heavily restricts the number of books you can use at once. Having the full text of an ever-growing library at your fingertips is, if using Spotify is a close enough parallel, something that can't be fully appreciated until it's experienced. - Price. If you usually buy at least one book a month and you can assume you'll probably do that indefinitely then it makes sense to instead start paying Oyster (or similar) indefinitely to get not one book a month, but all the books. - Authors don't get paid. I think it's to early to say whether this will work out for authors or not. We don't know the business model. If it doesn't work for authors and publishers, they'll stop using it and Oyster will have to change their business model. In fact, this is the biggest risk as I see it. Netflix started with a good catalog and, for awhile, had a great catalog of movies. Now they're losing content and having to create their own, most of which I have no interest in. If publishers were to fall out of love with Oyster, Oyster's value would be severely diminished so they'll have to do what it takes to keep publishers (and hopefully by extension, authors) happy. One thing to consider, and maybe this is not as common as I'm guessing, but there are so many times where I've read a Kindle book and decided to buy a paper version to give the book a physical presence in my house. For certain authors, this could mean getting paid twice when people read their books.

epochwolf 13y ago
I wish they had an iPad app or a way to send books to my kindle. Reading on my phone sucks. :(

javanix 13y ago

If they could port this to Kindle somehow (or partner with a physical, non-backlit reader manufacturer) I would be in in a heartbeat. Until then I wish them luck and sincerely hope this sort of business model takes off.

dave_sullivan 13y ago

I said exactly this to my girlfriend about a year ago: "I've got a genius idea, what about a netflix for books?" She said, "You mean a library?" Now I'm not sure who was right...

jedberg 13y ago
From what I can tell it is for ebooks, so not quite a library. :)

jedberg 13y ago

They really shouldn't call it "Netflix for books" because then they'll just get a constant stream of "you mean a library?". They should call it "Netflix for ebooks".

phaedrix 13y ago

So...Would have to read books on an LCD screen instead of a nice-on-the-eyes Kindle screen? No thanks.

dan-bell 13y ago
I'm hoping for a future with faster refresh E-Ink screens available on low spec, stripped down Android or FirefoxOS powered tablets.

garg 13y ago

Please support your local libraries and local bookstores. I hope libraries are never turned into historic relics.

njharman 13y ago

I couldn't find any indication if this mailed physical books or is just eBooks. Disclaimer, I only skimmed article (its breathless hype style is too annoying/worthless to read in detail). If just eBooks, total complete meh.

kermitten 13y ago

It would be good to see which books they have before signing up. I like the idea though a little expensive.

deleted 13y ago

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shire 13y ago

This would be a neat idea if it's free considering I can read as many books as I want for free at the library "paperback" might I add. Sorry but the library deserves my support more than your service.