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While book publishers have been, for the most part, friendly to the idea of e-books – at least since the rise of the Kindle and its ilk – the shift from dead trees to lively pixels still scare many in the industry. Meanwhile, on the TV and movie front, streaming providers like Hulu Plus have been bucking heads with traditional content producers who are fearful of devaluing their content. A new report says Amazon’s looking to take all those anxieties and mix them up in one big worry stew by introducing a Netflix-like subscription e-book service to Amazon Prime accounts.
Amazon’s talking to book publishers about possibilities right now, the Wall Street Journal reports (whew, they’ve been busy!), but anonymous insiders say that industry executives aren’t too thrilled with the idea. They cite the same concerns commonly whipped out by television and movie producers, namely that an “All you can eat” buffet-style subscription could devalue their content. Amazon’s reportedly offering pretty hefty fees to any publishers willing to participate in the program. Amazon already offers some TV shows and movies to Amazon Prime subscribers and it plans on launching an Android-based Kindle tablet later in the year.
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makius
September 13, 2011 at 10:04am
They do realize a service almost exactly like this has been going on for centuries right? It's called a public library... Granted, the digitalization and pricing structure of it is different, but when you check out a book from the library you're essentially renting it.
That being said, I'm all for this, I think it's a great idea. I'm pretty much in favor of anything that encourages people to read more. However, PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY! They need us!
fellowleo
September 12, 2011 at 9:25pm
Really want to make this a great service? Throw in magazine subscriptions too. Prob only get away with limiting the number of mags you can check out per month but it would still be cool. If they do this, I want credit!
Jason Hopkins
September 12, 2011 at 3:01pm
Well this could be good depending on if they have limits on how many books you can read a month. I read at least three books a week. The biggest thing that gets to me is the fact that most of the E-Books on Amazon are more expensive than the actual books. But that price is dictated by the publisher and not Amazon.
Pablo-man
September 12, 2011 at 2:57pm
I would be behind a service like this 100%. I love my Kindle, but as it is, there are some books I want to read but don't want to spend the cash to buy. For those I use the orginial "all you can eat buffet style service", the library. But I would much rather have them on my Kindle.
duncansil
September 12, 2011 at 11:25am
I'd buy into such a service. Have to be priced right, as I only read probably a book a month. Maybe it could be like the nexflix DVD service where you can have one, two or three items out at a time, or even a 'buffet' option at a different price point.
