Dissapointed in Amazon :/

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Not necessarily, the Prime Reading system allows you to borrow 10 at a time as well. Not nearly the selection though.

When did they start that?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

When did they start that?

Prime reading? It started in October 2016. Like KU it offers up to 10 checkouts at a time, but from a much smaller library of titles.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Prime reading? It started in October 2016. Like KU it offers up to 10 checkouts at a time, but from a much smaller library of titles.

KU has 1.5 million books and Prime Reading only has 1,100 books.

[Dusky Rose]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

Perhaps this is old news,
But I recently went on a hunting spree for Amazon free ebooks.
When you have prime, Amazon allows you to download a list of free ebooks, some of which are permanently free, some of which are temporarily reduced to zero price.
(

Why not just hang around freereadfeed.com and let them collect the info on all the Amazon freebies, and then sort what they have listed?

Even with choosing only medium sized books and up, I still get about 5-13 pages with 80 listings a page. Every day.

You do tend to see a lot of repeats over time, but you can catch multiples in a series on some days, depending on the publisher and the promotion.

[Ken Maltby]

It is more than ironic that Amazon goes to that much trouble to offer free books, in their marketing, but force away paying customers, who won't accept their device/file format restrictions.

Luck;
Ken

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

It is more than ironic that Amazon goes to that much trouble to offer free books, in their marketing, but force away paying customers, who won't accept their device/file format restrictions.

Luck;
Ken

Most of their paying customers don't care. They just want to be able to read on their chosen device. So I don't think they are worried about losing less than 5% of their customer base.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

KU has 1.5 million books and Prime Reading only has 1,100 books.

For a limited time on a three month rotation, I think.
I haven't look at it since october...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

It is more than ironic that Amazon goes to that much trouble to offer free books, in their marketing, but force away paying customers, who won't accept their device/file format restrictions.

Luck;
Ken

Nothing ironic.
Just good business sense.
It's all about return on investment.

Remember that Kindle predates epub.
So from Amazon's point of view, epub readers are people who chose not to read on devices compatible with their service (Kindles, PCs, Android, iOS). They see no obligation, legal or moral, to go out of their way to support people who chose not to be customers.

The expected return on that market doesn't justify the investment and operating costs required. And that is before factoring in the strategic disadvantages arising from propping up competitors and muddling the message to customers with format and DRM issues.

The likes of us might be interested in the differences between mobi 7, KF8, KFX, epub 2, epub3, FB2, FB3, etc but the mainstream Kindle customer doesn't. All they care about is that the ebook they buy can be read on their devices. To them, a Kindle ebook is a Kindle ebook. 1-click and done.

Works for them, works for Amazon.

When I bought my PB360 I knew it wasn't Kindle compatible.
Just as I knew my XBOX wouldn't play Sony exclusives.
I no more expect Amazon to bend over backwards for me than I expect Sony to support my XBOXes. (And there's a heck of a lot more XBOX users than epub readers. Sony still lives fine without our business.)
It's the way walled gardens work: you place your bet and live with the consequences.

[Breathinlady]

Originally Posted by DrD123

Don't forget your monthly "Kindle First" free book! I have found a number of good books that way. Also - if you have a Samsung device, you can use the "Kindle for Samsung" app to select another free book each month (that you can then send to your kindle) - granted, 2 books per month isn't thousands, but it's better than no free books per month!

I have a Samsung tablet i purchased last fall new, for the life of me I can NOT find the app "Kindle for Samsung" Looked in the app store and can find the Amazon Kindle, but not for Samsung app. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you and have a great day.

[AnemicOak]

Should be able to go to the following page with your tablet and tap the Galaxy Apps graphic. It should take you right to the app.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/digital/kfs-landing-page

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

For a limited time on a three month rotation, I think.
I haven't look at it since october...

That sounds about right. I don't pay much attention to it other than the really limited catalog of audiobooks (50 titles) available for a free listen.

[John F]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

For a limited time on a three month rotation, I think.
I haven't look at it since october...

I don't think there is much rotation going on. The "New Release, last 90 days" doesn't seem to change much; it is currently says 2.

[ProDigit]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

If it has the kindle unlimited tag, it can only be free 5 days out of every 90.
Otherwise, it is a permafree and may or may not be worth a darn.
So check for that tag. To buy, do not click read for free but buy with one click even if the price is $0.00.

Oh and you said you could only borrow 10, that means you are subscribed to kindle unlimited at roughly $10 a month.

I've had prime for almost 5 years now, and only discovered their free ebooks since 2 years ago, when I was buying a lot of free apps and seeing free movies from their prime selection.
So, no, I don't have Kindle unlimited, just regular Amazon Prime.

Prime was very beneficial for me for a while, even if they now are raising prices on prime items, to cover some of their shipping costs.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I've had prime for almost 5 years now, and only discovered their free ebooks since 2 years ago, when I was buying a lot of free apps and seeing free movies from their prime selection.
So, no, I don't have Kindle unlimited, just regular Amazon Prime.

Prime was very beneficial for me for a while, even if they now are raising prices on prime items, to cover some of their shipping costs.

I didn't know prime had borrows.
We have prime too for movies and shipping. Can we say free shipping on running boards for a truck?

Now as I was saying if you want to buy the books many will be free for 5 days out of 90, if they are borrowable books. Check for the tag.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Prime reading? It started in October 2016. Like KU it offers up to 10 checkouts at a time, but from a much smaller library of titles.

In the U.K. prime reading (borrow) is one book per month only.