5 ms·

I love the idea, but the selection is not good enough (for me) yet. I keep an Amazon wishlist as a "reading queue" and none of the 60 books (technical, business

by swanson 12y ago

I love the idea, but the selection is not good enough (for me) yet. I keep an Amazon wishlist as a "reading queue" and none of the 60 books (technical, business, pop-psych) in it were available on Kindle Unlimited. I usually buy 2-3 Kindle books a month at around $9/per, so I would definitely use this service if the selection improves. I kind of wonder if Amazon could get away with charging $9/month for any book they have and just cash-in on folks that "spend" less than that a month.

uptown 12y ago
Agreed. I don't read many books, but I asked my wife about the last 3 ebooks she'd read. One of the three was already a free book due to Amazon prime and was also included in Kindle Unlimited. The other two weren't available as part of Kindle Unlimited. So comparing Kindle Unlimited to Netflix's online streaming is actually a pretty accurate correlation. It's currently comprised of second-tier (or lower) books that aren't likely to yield the same profits as new and currently popular titles, so they're used as filler for this service.
- walterbell 12y ago
  Free, top-tier pre-1920 ebooks from centuries of book reviews: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/themes/ http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/themes/
brotoss 12y ago
Yep, just went through my list of 38 and only 2 are on unlimited. My list is comprised of relatively popular books that are relatively old, nothing like new or anything. Examples: Army at Dawn, Eternal Golden Braid, Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons, When Genius Failed, Snow Crash, Good Omens, The Signal and The Noise, The Looming Tower. I would expect at least a couple of these to be on there, its not like they're at peak popularity or anything. But I did chuckle at Piketty's Capital being on unlimited.
marpstar 12y ago
Was wondering if this could replace my Safari Books Online subscription, and the answer to that is a resounding 'no'.
- incision 12y ago
  I use Safari heavily and I've been hoping some sort of competitor would come along. It's not that that I dislike Safari, merely that I expect competition would push for a better product. The interface has barely changed in as long as I can remember with the same old clunky flash and limited search. It took years for the mobile app to go from horrendous to tolerable and it remains quite bad. Giving 'Online' the same visual style as 'Flow' would be a start, but they seem to be keeping them separate and beyond the visuals I found Flow to underwhelming and frustrating even. I cancelled my Flow subscription despite being offered a deep discount as some sort of early adopter. Meanwhile, Inkling is great is several ways, but lacks the critical 'all you can read' subscription option.
  - arafalov 12y ago
    The interface is being redone. I don't know how they are planning to cut-over though: https://www.safaribooksonline.com/ https://www.safaribooksonline.com/ Edited: They just announced how the cutover will work: http://blog.safaribooksonline.com/2014/07/08/new-safari/ http://blog.safaribooksonline.com/2014/07/08/new-safari/
    - incision 12y ago
      Interesting, I figured something was up when the landing page changed. Several of the new/upcoming features of Flow are precisely what I asked for while using the service. If I'd gotten some sort of acknowledgement of that feedback as something being considered or upcoming I'd have kept my discounted subscription.
    - marpstar 12y ago
      Kind of disappointing that the new service is separate from the existing 'Safari Books Online' service. I'm grandfathered in to the $9.99 5 books/month plan right now. Jumping to $24.99 for a new interface hardly seems worth it.
dangoldin 12y ago
How'd you find the overlap between the two? I'm trying to do the same but can't find a simple way to do it other than checking every book.
- swanson 12y ago
  Me neither - I just opened 60 tabs :)
  - dangoldin 12y ago
    Ah got it. I spot checked a few and had a 0% success rate so gave up on more.
edpichler 12y ago
Same as me. I think I can wait for the list be improved.
legohead 12y ago
The current series I'm reading and the last series I read are not available.. nail in coffin for me
xutopia 12y ago
Where do you see what is available? Do you have to pay to know?

by swanson 12y ago

uptown 12y ago

Agreed. I don't read many books, but I asked my wife about the last 3 ebooks she'd read. One of the three was already a free book due to Amazon prime and was also included in Kindle Unlimited. The other two weren't available as part of Kindle Unlimited. So comparing Kindle Unlimited to Netflix's online streaming is actually a pretty accurate correlation. It's currently comprised of second-tier (or lower) books that aren't likely to yield the same profits as new and currently popular titles, so they're used as filler for this service.

walterbell 12y ago
Free, top-tier pre-1920 ebooks from centuries of book reviews: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/themes/ http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/themes/

brotoss 12y ago

Yep, just went through my list of 38 and only 2 are on unlimited. My list is comprised of relatively popular books that are relatively old, nothing like new or anything. Examples: Army at Dawn, Eternal Golden Braid, Tale of Dueling Neurosurgeons, When Genius Failed, Snow Crash, Good Omens, The Signal and The Noise, The Looming Tower. I would expect at least a couple of these to be on there, its not like they're at peak popularity or anything. But I did chuckle at Piketty's Capital being on unlimited.

marpstar 12y ago

Was wondering if this could replace my Safari Books Online subscription, and the answer to that is a resounding 'no'.

incision 12y ago
I use Safari heavily and I've been hoping some sort of competitor would come along. It's not that that I dislike Safari, merely that I expect competition would push for a better product. The interface has barely changed in as long as I can remember with the same old clunky flash and limited search. It took years for the mobile app to go from horrendous to tolerable and it remains quite bad. Giving 'Online' the same visual style as 'Flow' would be a start, but they seem to be keeping them separate and beyond the visuals I found Flow to underwhelming and frustrating even. I cancelled my Flow subscription despite being offered a deep discount as some sort of early adopter. Meanwhile, Inkling is great is several ways, but lacks the critical 'all you can read' subscription option.
- arafalov 12y ago
  The interface is being redone. I don't know how they are planning to cut-over though: https://www.safaribooksonline.com/ https://www.safaribooksonline.com/ Edited: They just announced how the cutover will work: http://blog.safaribooksonline.com/2014/07/08/new-safari/ http://blog.safaribooksonline.com/2014/07/08/new-safari/
  - incision 12y ago
    Interesting, I figured something was up when the landing page changed. Several of the new/upcoming features of Flow are precisely what I asked for while using the service. If I'd gotten some sort of acknowledgement of that feedback as something being considered or upcoming I'd have kept my discounted subscription.
  - marpstar 12y ago
    Kind of disappointing that the new service is separate from the existing 'Safari Books Online' service. I'm grandfathered in to the $9.99 5 books/month plan right now. Jumping to $24.99 for a new interface hardly seems worth it.

dangoldin 12y ago

How'd you find the overlap between the two? I'm trying to do the same but can't find a simple way to do it other than checking every book.

swanson 12y ago
Me neither - I just opened 60 tabs :)
- dangoldin 12y ago
  Ah got it. I spot checked a few and had a 0% success rate so gave up on more.

edpichler 12y ago

Same as me. I think I can wait for the list be improved.

legohead 12y ago

The current series I'm reading and the last series I read are not available.. nail in coffin for me

xutopia 12y ago

Where do you see what is available? Do you have to pay to know?