Quote:
Originally Posted by Rizla
Now would be an excellent time for someone to set up an alternative to Goodreads and invite the disenchanted usership over to it. Oh, and this time, make it legally-binding that the site or at least users' contributions will not be sold in the future.
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The chief of Library Thing estimates it costs over $3M a year to *run* Goodreads. They had received millions in Venture Capital funds over the last few years. Those folks expect returns on their investment either through IPO or selling out. With a business model that likely never was in the black there were few choices to find a sugar daddy. And Amazon is the one that stepped up.
So what "somebody" do you expect to step up to such a big task as replicating Goodreads solely out of altruism?
Google, perchance? (They're cutting back on everything that doesn't generate cash or ad-views or both.)
Random Penguin? (They have Bookish.)
The Gates Foundation?
Oh, I know! Kim DotCom!
I fully expect to see more than a few "we're not Amazon" alternatives to Goodreads--Library Thing is already volunteering. But I doubt we'll see much of a decline; for every noisy defection there will be at least one new addition from the 30-40 million Kindle user base. Those folks are Legion!
And quite comfy in the Amazon community.
(shrug)