Amazon is testing “Kindle Unlimited,” an ebook subscription service for $9.99/month

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Would they really have a Kindle Unlimited without letting people download the books to and read them on their actual eInk Kindles, though?

With music, Amazon can restrict it, with apps, to streaming; I can't see how they could do that with eInk Kindles? Scribd, Oyster etc don't have that issue - they don't have their own eInk reader, so going with just apps is sensible enough. For Amazon, the eInk Kindle is what many of their customers and Kindle users think of when e-reading, and there would be a reasonable expectation of being able to read books on a device Amazon created for that purpose.

And if you can download a book to the Kindle, it can also be put onto the computer, cannot it?

How are loans (whether library or person-to-person loans) currently handled by Amazon? I've never used either, not being American, but I gather there is some kind of expiration built in? Does it work also when the Kindle is offline? Can the loaned books be downloaded via computer?

When I borrow a Kindle book from the library, it goes to the cloud in my Amazon account. All I have to do to get that book on my Kindle 4 is to turn WiFi on and download it. At no time is a computer ever involved in the download process.

I'm sure Amazon will do the same thing with KU and their eink Kindles. I bet they'll add a new line item in the Kindle menus for KU books for direct downloading to the Kindle (via WiFi).

[tubemonkey]

eink Kindle + wifi + cloud = KU book

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

When I borrow a Kindle book from the library, it goes to the cloud in my Amazon account. All I have to do to get that book on my Kindle 4 is to turn WiFi on and download it. At no time is a computer ever involved in the download process.

I'm sure Amazon will do the same thing with KU and their eink Kindles. I bet they'll add a new line item in the Kindle menus for KU books for direct downloading to the Kindle (via WiFi).

But you can also download it from the browser.

And I'm sure they will do the same for KU.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Yapyap

Would they really have a Kindle Unlimited without letting people download the books to and read them on their actual eInk Kindles, though?

With music, Amazon can restrict it, with apps, to streaming; I can't see how they could do that with eInk Kindles? Scribd, Oyster etc don't have that issue - they don't have their own eInk reader, so going with just apps is sensible enough. For Amazon, the eInk Kindle is what many of their customers and Kindle users think of when e-reading, and there would be a reasonable expectation of being able to read books on a device Amazon created for that purpose.

And if you can download a book to the Kindle, it can also be put onto the computer, cannot it?

How are loans (whether library or person-to-person loans) currently handled by Amazon? I've never used either, not being American, but I gather there is some kind of expiration built in? Does it work also when the Kindle is offline? Can the loaned books be downloaded via computer?

Library books are like any other.

When the loan expires, Amazon messages your Kindle to delete it. Next time you connect to WiFi it gets the message and deletes the book.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

"Audible is Amazon."

I know. That's why I don't think the Whispersync offerings will expand much or that Amazon will just offer straight Audible titles not connected to Whispersync. Played wrong, Amazon could damage the current Audible subscription service.

Currently, Audible has over 50,000 Whispersync titles in its catalog of over 150,000 titles. I have no idea how many of those are unique titles. Frequently, Audible will have more than one version of a title; and sometimes five or six versions.

Yes, I figured you knew Soylent Green is people. <g>

I expect the selection will be more or less as limited as the ebook selection, i.e. the core will be what is now Kindle Lending Library/KDP and the low cost audiobooks associated with those, with some more high profile things to spice things up. I could well drop my Audible subscription in favor of this (I listen a lot but have a hard time consuming one credit a month) but they would still get my money either way, while exposing audiobooks to a new set of customers.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I expect the selection will be more or less as limited as the ebook selection, i.e. the core will be what is now Kindle Lending Library/KDP and the low cost audiobooks associated with those, with some more high profile things to spice things up. I could well drop my Audible subscription in favor of this (I listen a lot but have a hard time consuming one credit a month) but they would still get my money either way, while exposing audiobooks to a new set of customers.

More than likely.

I've never had a full price Audible membership. I've only had the promos (free to $1.95 per month). Personally, I find $9 to $15 too expensive for an audiobook. As to KU, I'll never get this as long as I have access to public libraries with generous audiobook and ebook selections.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

I'd be all over a Netflix-for-books style model if they had all of the major publishers. So far no one has pulled that off.

This could be a windfall for new/undiscovered writers. Since I've started coming to MobileRead, my emphasis on reading has shifted from reading only authors I've heard of, but to one of reading authors I've heard about either in the free and bargain forum or in the self promotion forum.

Finding authors new to me has been a lot of fun. I look for free or VERY cheap give-away prices. Sure, I read a lot of dreck, but when I find someone new that is GOOD, it is a special kind of joy. I rarely read "best sellers" any more.

That $120/year (US dollars) could be a way not only to allow self published and unknown authors to make some money, but a way to judge their relative economic value to the book market.

Authors offer a book for free, either on Amazon, Smashwords, or someplace else. They may know how many downloads of their book has occurred, but that is about all they know if the readers don't offer a review.

But as I understand it, under an "all-you-can-eat" subscription model, they get nothing when the book is downloaded, but they get PAID when a certain percentage has actually been read. This tells them the ratio of how many downloads actually result in people reading the book enough to generate a royalty payment to them. I should think that would be VERY useful information whe trying to judge your effectiveness!

And while the money would be nice, I doubt any self published or new author REALLY expects to make significant amounts of money off of their work. (They hope for more, but expect less)

I say, Amazon, bring it on! And if you can figure out some sort of cross licensing plan with Smashwords, and other self publishing sites, you should look into that as well. That only adds value to the program for me.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

I'd be all over a Netflix-for-books style model if they had all of the major publishers. So far no one has pulled that off.

The netflix of movies (aka Netflix) does not have all the major studios. If this service is like netflix, you'll spend more time looking for something to read than reading

[issybird]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

I look for free or VERY cheap give-away prices. Sure, I read a lot of dreck,

Nothing is more expensive than free/cheap dreck.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Their website and video shows the books on an eink Kindle. Whether it can be downloaded or not I don't know.

Either it has to be downloaded or you'll need a persistent wifi connection to read. The latter is not convenient. So the book will probably be downloaded and encrypted with a new scheme.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by issybird

Nothing is more expensive than free/cheap dreck.

Not really, If it's dreck, you stop reading.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Not really, If it's dreck, you stop reading.

A lot of dreck is a lot of dreck. Just going by what you said.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by issybird

A lot of dreck is a lot of dreck. Just going by what you said.

We all seek fun in our own ways. I like 'finding' good new writers. What's that old saying? "You've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince"

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

We all seek fun in our own ways. I like 'finding' good new writers. What's that old saying? "You've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince"

Which makes for a lot of happy frogs.

In the advert Amazon highlighs the exploration and discovery aspects precisely because in a subscription service the user can take risks looking at unfamiliar material and if it disappoints the loss is minimal. No need to fear the fabled "three chapter specials".

It'll be interesting to see what the final terms look like for both users and publishers.

[corroonb]

I am interested, very interested indeed. If they can offer more content than Scribd outside the US, admittedly not very difficult.