Oyster: unlimited e-books for $9.95 a month, now live with invite (iOS)

[ApK]

Originally Posted by doctorow

Just think about the Kindle text-to-speech feature and why it went AWOL. The majority of publishers hated the idea that something, anything, could take away something from their traditional market shares.

I think the TTS issue was different. I think that suffered from the same thing as the Firefly TV show: Some executives not understanding what they had and making some bad decisions.

Libraries currently lend ebooks for free, yet people still buy ebooks. Netflix streams movies for a monthly fee but people still buy DVDs.
Not sure that this new thing will necessarily be any more of a game changer.

[doctorow]

Originally Posted by ApK

Libraries currently lend ebooks for free, yet people still buy ebooks.

In my opinion (I could be absolutely wrong), libraries are generally used by a minority of people. That is different from, let's say, online services, which are generally more en vogue among younger people.

Netflix streams movies for a monthly fee but people still buy DVDs.
Not sure that this new thing will necessarily be any more of a game changer.

I am not saying that it doesn't work or that it's not a game changer. All I am saying is that I don't consider publishers risk-taking enough to embrace a service such as Oyster and make special deals with them. It runs counter to they previous anti-innovative behavior in light of e-books and audiobooks and such.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by doctorow

In my opinion (I could be absolutely wrong), libraries are generally used by a minority of people. That is different from, let's say, online services, which are generally more en vogue among younger people.

I'd imagine there is a high correlation between book buyers and library users.
In any case, library ebooks ARE an online service. Just check the waiting lists....

I am not saying that it doesn't work or that it's not a game changer. All I am saying is that I don't consider publishers risk-taking enough to embrace a service such as Oyster and make special deals with them. It runs counter to they previous anti-innovative behavior in light of e-books and audiobooks and such.

We will see, I suppose. Maybe this will be a sign of great changes to come, or maybe it'll prove to be just one more missed opportunity trashed by shortsighted management.

[holymadness]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

$9.99 for all-you can read? I'd sign up like a shot if it had a good enough selection. (I spent over $300 on ebooks in 2012, and I've already spent over $350 this year.)

But since I'm in the UK I doubt I'll have a chance.

And it really all depends on the selection available.

I also live outside of the US. I tried signing up with a non-US credit card and the transaction wouldn't go through. Unfortunately, they don't accept payments via Paypal. These are the same problems that Netflix had in the beginning and, like Netflix, you know that they won't be able to licence the same content in every country even if they expand internationally.

There are times when you realize just how haltingly commerce is catching up to the Internet age.

[MeSue]

So has anyone here signed up yet? Just curious how the reading app is. But not curious enough to shell out $$. ;-) They don't show many screen shots of the actual reading screens.

I'd try it if there was a free trial period....

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by doctorow

I cannot imagine why publishers would want to participate in subscription-based services like Oyster. I mean - they already poop their pants when a computerized voice reads aloud Kindle books. Do you seriously believe they'd agree on a deal that would make everyone look silly who spends $10 or more on a single book?

Unless you are into filling up your virtual bookshelf with a collection of virtual books that you don't even own (but only rent) - where would be the point in purchasing e-books if e-book subscriptions like Oyster became maintream?

Publishers grudgingly sell their books to libraries to be loaned out for free, a subscription service that gives access for a monthly fee isn't any worse and some publishers may prefer this model for exposure to people who weren't going to buy their books anyway.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Synamon

Publishers grudgingly sell their books to libraries to be loaned out for free, a subscription service that gives access for a monthly fee isn't any worse and some publishers may prefer this model for exposure to people who weren't going to buy their books anyway.

Except that unlike libraries, there doesn't seem to be any kind of waiting list. As many people as wish it can access any one of the titles.

[detayls]

So like all good lemmings I signed to up to be offered a chance to try the Oyster service.

The offer came this morning. Basically you click on a link in the email and you are at their site.

The first thing that you must do is give them a password, since they already have your email address.

Next you are urged to browse and pick your first five books but there is no search function on the web site. (fail)

So you pick five books at random, expecting to be able to change them later, and click next.

Now they want your credit card. No mention of a free trial. (fail)

At this point you are stuck. If you want to continue, you must pay. So I decided to see what their cancellation policy is. "No refunds or credits will be provided for partial months. For more information read the payment terms" (fail)

The payment terms mention a free trial but it is not currently available.

"Free trials and other promotions

You may be required to provide an applicable billing payment method to register for a free trial offer to the subscription service provided on or through the Services. In that event, you agree that Oyster may obtain a pre-authorization for the full subscription price that you will be automatically charged if you complete the free trial and continue the subscription service. It is possible that some financial institutions may perceive these requested amounts as actual pending charges. These are not actual charges, and you agree that Oyster will not be responsible for any results, such as an overdraft fee, that may occur to your account with a financial institution as a result of such authorizations.

Any free trial or other promotion that provides access to a Paid Service must be used within the specified trial period. You must stop using a Paid Service before the end of the trial period in order to avoid being charged for that Paid Service. If you cancel prior to the end of the trial period and are inadvertently charged for a Paid Service, please contact us at hello@oysterbooks.com."

I emailed and was told there is currently no free trial. (fail)

Next I downloaded their iPhone app but it would not let me in without payment. No iPad app yet. (fail)

So I have not yet seen a single word from any of their 100,000 books. (fail)

These guys are going nowhere.

[ericstromberg]

Hi David-

Eric from Oyster here. Thanks for the thoughtful feedback on the on-boarding process for Oyster.

On the free trial, we hear you! As you can see from the terms that you quote, allowing our readers to see the library and use the application before subscribing is definitely on our radar and something we want to do. We are a young company and are excited to keep improving the offering over time. We hope you'll check it out when we do!

Best,
Eric Stromberg
Co-Founder & CEO

[detayls]

Originally Posted by ericstromberg

Hi David-

Eric from Oyster here. Thanks for the thoughtful feedback on the on-boarding process for Oyster.

On the free trial, we hear you! As you can see from the terms that you quote, allowing our readers to see the library and use the application before subscribing is definitely on our radar and something we want to do. We are a young company and are excited to keep improving the offering over time. We hope you'll check it out when we do!

Best,
Eric Stromberg
Co-Founder & CEO

Eric,

You MUST offer a free trial even it is only with a Public Domain book. I regularly spend way more than the $9.95 every month with Amazon so it is not the money.

I use the Kindle app on my iPhone a lot but it has deficiencies that your app may fix but how do I know that?

My minimum set of requirements for an $9.95 a month reader are:

• All the authors I care about e.g. Iain M. Banks and other similar
• Hyphenation
• Justification
• Caecilia font in various sizes (bold and easy to see -- I'm in my mid-60's )
• Synchronization across devices
• Kindle or Nook E-Paper reader compatibility

Without at least those and iPad support I wouldn't be interested.

[ericstromberg]

Hi David,

I really appreciate your feedback. All invited members have an opportunity to browse app features and a selection of books from our collection.

Here are some answers to your other questions!

We currently have a few books by Iain M. Banks and have a really amazing Mystery & Thriller section with titles by Jo Nesbo, Carl Hiaasen, Dennis Lehane, and Michael Crichton to name a few. Keep in mind, we are just a year old and will be adding more books regularly!

Our reader has five beautifully designed typographic themes, that allow you to control size, font, and brightness. All themes are hyphenated but we do not yet offer an option to toggle-on justification. Our creative director was a former designer at Google and Apple and put a lot of thought into the creation of these.

Oyster is currently available for iPhone and our iPad app will be released this fall. While we don't have any announced plans for other devices, we are committed to have Oyster available on as many platforms as possible.

I hope this helps, and again thanks for the feedback. We hope you'll check out Oyster again in the near future.

Cheers,
Eric

[detayls]

Originally Posted by ericstromberg

Hi David,
We hope you'll check out Oyster again in the near future.

Cheers,
Eric

I appreciate the quick response and will wait and see how you guys do.

[doctorow]

Originally Posted by ericstromberg

Oyster is currently available for iPhone and our iPad app will be released this fall. While we don't have any announced plans for other devices, we are committed to have Oyster available on as many platforms as possible.

I am looking forward to the iPad app. Thanks for the heads up, Eric.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by K. Molen

Hmm. Maybe I've been too spoiled by the extensive Overdrive selection of my local library, but to me $9.99 a month is way too expensive.

It's rare that Overdrive doesn't have what I want, it certainly happens less often than once a month, so it makes a lot more sense for me to just buy what I can't get from Overdrive. I'll still likely come out ahead compared to an Oyster subscription, and even if I were to go a couple of dollars over each year, I now own the books as opposed to just borrowing them.

If it was $9.99 a year, I'd join. I wouldn't pay a whole lot more than that though.

This. We need to support the existing library structure (including fighting the exorbitant fees the publishers want to charge) which is paid for by our taxes instead of replacing it with a commercial option.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ApK

I think the TTS issue was different. I think that suffered from the same thing as the Firefly TV show: Some executives not understanding what they had and making some bad decisions.

Libraries currently lend ebooks for free, yet people still buy ebooks. Netflix streams movies for a monthly fee but people still buy DVDs.
Not sure that this new thing will necessarily be any more of a game changer.

And this. Libraries also loan CDs, DVDs etc. This may be just another 'Redbox' but I'm still more in favor of supporting the public library system which serves the entire public (and expanding it!).