Amazon Officially Announces 'Kindle Unlimited' E-book and Audiobook Subscription Service

[Primejimbo]

I posted this from the last Amazon post:
My wife and I have Oyster and it's well worth the $9.99 a month (you can have it on 5 devises). I don't read as much, but my wife does. Her issue with the local library ebooks is she will have 2-3 books on hold, and then they all come at once. Now she has to put 1 or 2 books back on hold and have this issue happen again. The other issue is we went on vacation and a ebook was ready to be downloaded. We didn't want to waste data on a book, and we did get home in time. She only has 3 days to down load the books. Also with our library, you can only have one book out at a time. My wife downloaded 3 books on Oyster at one time so she had stuff to read while on vacation, and this way she didn't need to be on data after she finished a book because she had all her books alread. Just because something is free, doesn't mean it's the best.

Why not use the library...for FREE? Why give money to Amazon?

Why not? if this gets more people reading and not watching TV go for it. I also listed other reasons above too.

Who wants to go to a library? Who has time?

Convenience for the win! And Amazon knows this.

Yup, I agree! Our library is in the downtown area and it is SO busy!!

Libraries offer ebooks. You know, they are libraries yet they are in the XXI century.

But you can only get one book at a time, I'm not sure about Amazon, but my wife can download a bunch of books at once for a vacation with Oyster, and no waiting also. It's strange because our library will have 5 of the 6 books in a series also. So far with Oyster, my wife hasn't had this issue.

The Library maybe "FREE" but for most people commuting back and forth to the library is not.

If I read 4 books a month that would be 4 trips to the library. The library closest to me is a good 20 minute drive about 8 miles. 16 mile round trip 4 times a month is 64 miles. My car gets 20mpg so that is just over 3 gallons of gas. 3 X 3.40 = $10.20. Sorry the library is more expensive then Amazon.

Another great point. With gas prices going up, this becomes a bargan.

 

[Parasprite]

Face it, print media is on a path to become obsolete. Including libraries. I am curious as to what 'Unlimited' will include. I am a nonfiction reader.

With the advent of websites, I'm amazed that Magazines still persist. They have so much less content and so many more gigantic ads.

I think doctors' offices are probably the only thing keeping them alive.

 

[Frizers]

I read quite a bit and get through a book every couple of weeks, more or less depending on the size of it, but with amazon selling a lot of cheap books, unless you're buying all the latest titles I can't imagine it would work out cheaper subscribing rather than just buying the kindle version for a couple of quid

 

[Will do good]

Originally Posted by fa8362 View Post
Why not use the library...for FREE? Why give money to Amazon?
Because it's boring.

It's great for people like you who give away money and be proud. Way to go Texas.

 

[Parasprite]

How will authors and publishers make money with this? I don't really understand how this works for $9.99 a month

The same way that it works for music and video, royalties.

 

[horsebattery]

How will authors and publishers make money with this? I don't really understand how this works for $9.99 a month

Check out this very helpful summary from TechCrunch.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/18/what-kindle-unlimited-means-for-authors/

I read quite a bit and get through a book every couple of weeks, more or less depending on the size of it, but with amazon selling a lot of cheap books, unless you're buying all the latest titles I can't imagine it would work out cheaper subscribing rather than just buying the kindle version for a couple of quid

It definitely depends on how quickly you read. I finished the Hunger Games series within a month. The first one I got for free through the Lending Library program, and I purchased the next two. The total for the latter two were already over $10, so KU would have saved me money, especially as I went off to read other books after that.

 

[iceperson]

For those of you who keep complaining about your local library selection I have a suggestion/challenge. Make a list of your top 5 or so books. Go to your library and if they don't have one of them in stock buy it and donate it to them. Just because you don't use the library doesn't mean they have no value. Give the gift of reading to those less fortunate. My wife and I are trying to donate as many Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners to our local library as we can for the children in our community. Also, if you're an amazon shopper I recommend choosing a local friends of the library organization on http://smile.amazon.com/.

 

[milo]

while yes, the library is free, just one book weighs more than a kindle

Many libraries offer ebooks these days.

Who wants to go to a library? Who has time?

Convenience for the win! And Amazon knows this.

Again, library ebooks. Just download wherever you happen to be.

Why don't students check out textbooks from their university's library every 2 weeks and never pay for their own textbooks?

Because textbooks are extremely expensive and go out of date quickly, so libraries don't carry many of them. Not to mention that libraries would never have nearly enough copies for all the students to have them.

That's the main reason people still buy books instead of only using the library, they actually want to own the book and have a copy available all the time, or they don't want to be on a waiting list for popular books at the library.

The Library maybe "FREE" but for most people commuting back and forth to the library is not.

Seriously, are so many people totally unaware that libraries offer ebooks now?

Honestly, if libraries are going to compete and stay relevant they need to rethink distribution and staffing. They need to put more money into eBooks, less into storing paper.

That's exactly what many libraries are doing. But there are limitations, some publishers don't make ebooks available to libraries. And some are available but they have special pricing or terms for library licensing, often much more expensive than the consumer price, or a limit on how many ebook copies a library can buy. So for certain titles paper is the only option, not to mention all the books they have already purchased over the decades. It wouldn't make much financial sense to spend a ton of money buying lots of titles they already have bought.

 

[LordVic]

Why not use the library...for FREE? Why give money to Amazon?

My library wont let me

Apparently I still owe them money from when I was a teen and returned a book late, that with interest has gone over $100.

I must pay or i can't use the library. and since my entire region(county) is linked, I have no available access to a public library.

 

[Primejimbo]

Many libraries offer ebooks these days.



Again, library ebooks. Just download wherever you happen to be.



Because textbooks are extremely expensive and go out of date quickly, so libraries don't carry many of them. Not to mention that libraries would never have nearly enough copies for all the students to have them.

That's the main reason people still buy books instead of only using the library, they actually want to own the book and have a copy available all the time, or they don't want to be on a waiting list for popular books at the library.



Seriously, are so many people totally unaware that libraries offer ebooks now?



That's exactly what many libraries are doing. But there are limitations, some publishers don't make ebooks available to libraries. And some are available but they have special pricing or terms for library licensing, often much more expensive than the consumer price, or a limit on how many ebook copies a library can buy. So for certain titles paper is the only option, not to mention all the books they have already purchased over the decades. It wouldn't make much financial sense to spend a ton of money buying lots of titles they already have bought.

and as I said in post# 76
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/19370113/
libraries aren't always the best. If you don't like this idea, don't do it. I think it's a wonderful idea.
Also, not all libraries offer ebooks

 

[yaxomoxay]

My library wont let me

Apparently I still owe them money from when I was a teen and returned a book late, that with interest has gone over $100.

I must pay or i can't use the library. and since my entire region(county) is linked, I have no available access to a public library.

Call them and ask to pay 50% of it. They will accept.

 

[horsebattery]

Because textbooks are extremely expensive and go out of date quickly, so libraries don't carry many of them. Not to mention that libraries would never have nearly enough copies for all the students to have them.

That's the main reason people still buy books instead of only using the library, they actually want to own the book and have a copy available all the time, or they don't want to be on a waiting list for popular books at the library.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my original post, but you're restating my point - people want preferences, hence the validity of the KU program. My post was in response to the many people who were asking - "why not visit a library?" I happen to enjoy keeping a copy of books I've read as well, hence borrowing from a library (ebook or otherwise) simply won't work for me.

 

[LordVic]

Call them and ask to pay 50% of it. They will accept.

Newp. tried a couple years ago. They've outright refused to budge.

Government workers are .... <Fillin your own word>

Don't want to even start how Passport Canada royally screwed me the last few days and told me "We might have screwed up, but tough, we're not helping remedy it"

 

[iceperson]

My library wont let me

Apparently I still owe them money from when I was a teen and returned a book late, that with interest has gone over $100.

I must pay or i can't use the library. and since my entire region(county) is linked, I have no available access to a public library.

That's a shame. I know the library where my wife works will generally forgive most late fees (unreturned books/movies they are less forgiving on.) I recommend checking with them. Let them know that you can't afford the fines but would really like to use the library again. Maybe even offer to trade some old books for credit toward the fine. Most librarians I know will bend over backwards for their patrons.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Why not use the library...for FREE? Why give money to Amazon?

Uh, is this a trick question?
You give money to Amazon in return for a product or service.
How did I do?

 

[iceperson]

Newp. tried a couple years ago. They've outright refused to budge.

Government workers are .... <Fillin your own word>

Don't want to even start how Passport Canada royally screwed me the last few days and told me "We might have screwed up, but tough, we're not helping remedy it"

That sounds really odd. I know most government workers are like that, but librarians are a special bunch. Most government workers didn't go to grad school just so they could get a sub $15/hour job at their local library. Real librarians (those with a Masters in Library Science) are generally very passionate about reading and getting others to read. Perhaps Canada is different, but I would expect Canadians to be even more willing to help just based on reputation.

 

[Parasprite]

Government workers are .... <Fillin your own word>

I chose vair, a particular type of squirrel fur used in clothing during ~13th century.

 

[LordVic]

That sounds really odd. I know most government workers are like that, but librarians are a special bunch. Most government workers didn't go to grad school just so they could get a sub $15/hour job at their local library. Real librarians (those with a Masters in Library Science) are generally very passionate about reading and getting others to read. Perhaps Canada is different, but I would expect Canadians to be even more willing to help just based on reputation.

It feels up here that the roles are typically reversed.

Private sector will bend over backwards to keep you happy (Canada has a lot of strong consumer protection and companies really dont want to run afoul of it). I've just about negotiated with every single provider i have for deals and discounts that they've generally with some negotiating agreed upon.

But government. I always get "No, thats not possible. This is exactly the policy. This is what you get, this is what it costs. We will not negotiate and I will not spend more than 30 seconds helping you"

I quite literally this morning got so enraged at a government office that I had to storm out. walk for 10 minutes around the block to calm myself down. They admitted that it was likely their mistake (paperwork issue). But that since they have rules and regulations that they were unwilling to help in any way outside of the mandated policy of the office.

(They lost my passport forms, rejected the application, ruined my photos then told me tough ****, i have to redo them at my own cost and resubmit my forms through the regular channels again, even though its now days away from my travel. I sent the forms originally 3 months ago. And refuse to accept any responsibility at putting my travel plans, costing me over $10k in jeapordy.)

 

[cmwade77]

Why not use the library...for FREE? Why give money to Amazon?

Because the library doesn't have 600,000 ebooks to choose from and even if they have one you want to read, you have to wait for it to be checked back in and most of the time text to speech has been disabled on library copies of books. So, overall, not a good experience and I will gladly pay $10 a month to read what I want and not have these artifical limits placed on digital goods.

 

[milo]

We didn't want to waste data on a book

In general file sizes are tiny, out of all the books I've had almost all have been less then a meg each. One exception was one that was heavy on illustrations, and the other was the first five game of thrones books in one file, thousands of pages at 11.2 megs.

Also with our library, you can only have one book out at a time.

That's a pretty lame policy, ours allows five checked out plus five on hold.

libraries aren't always the best.

I never said they were. And I don't know how many libraries haven't started offering ebooks, if someone has one that doesn't they can certainly do what they can to encourage them to consider it.

you're restating my point

Sorry, I thought you were actually asking those questions, not being rhetorical.

Because the library doesn't have 600,000 ebooks to choose from

Are there any stats on how many ebook titles the various libraries have? And that 600k number from Amazon ignores which books they are and what quality, if a large portion is self published stuff that nobody really wants to read it's kind of a useless number.

 

[macduke]

With Netflix asking only 8 dollars per month for unlimited movies and TV shows, 10 dollars per month for books seems pretty high in my opinion.

Have you used Netflix? The streaming content is far from unlimited. I'd honestly pay upwards of $50-60/mo to get truly unlimited access to every TV show and movie ever made, available to watch on any of my devices whenever I want to.

I guess this Amazon thing is limited to 600,000 books, but books generally take a lot longer to read. If the service just has a few good series and then a bunch of crappy novels, or perhaps no new or recent content, then it might be overpriced. I guess we'll see. I pay $10/mo for Rdio and I feel like it's a bargain.

 

[Parasprite]

In general file sizes are tiny, out of all the books I've had almost all have been less then a meg each. One exception was one that was heavy on illustrations, and the other was the first five game of thrones books in one file, thousands of pages at 11.2 megs.

My textbooks often end up being ~100-200 MB. Though, it was worse when I had to rely on Pageburst for them (never again).

 

[ssspinball]

What makes books less valuable than movies? Being a reader, I think 9.99 is well justified for unlimited reading for a month.

The fact that every town has a library with free copies of those same books.

 

[neuropsychguy]

That would be an immediate deal-killer; I usually have several books I'm reading at once and am bad about finishing them.

I doubt Amazon is going this route though.

That's how the Kindle Lending Library (for Kindle owners who also subscribe to Amazon Prime) works. This Kindle Unlimited program is not limited like that.

 

[Parasprite]

The fact that every town has a library with free copies of those same books.

books which may or may not actually be the same books*