Netflix type plan for ebooks?

[Forster]

What I mean by a Netflix type plan is as a kindle user sign up for a 2, 3, 4 etc. books out type plan for some sort of a subscription fee, preferably a type of plan where immediate family members could check out books.

I have to admit my paradigms have shifted hugely regarding books since getting the K2.  Other than some reference books I have no desire for DTBs, now I am losing my desire to "own" even e~copies of the books.  I'm quite content to read them and be done with them.  To me some sort of a subscription based service to a vast library seems the next logical step.

Think of it your TBR pile can consist of books that catch your eye and you add to your queue, when you are ready for them, bump them to the top.  Rate your books and get recommendations.  Don't like a book, don't finish it and check out another with no guilt about wasting money on a dog.

I'd be dumbfounded if something like this doesn't happen in the near future.

I wanted to do a poll but couldn't get it to post right. 

[Gretchen Z]

Sounds like it would be worth a try for those who have no interest in "owning" (and I use this term loosely) their books.  
They do it with audio books at audible.com, why not with e-books?
 

[Forster]

Sounds like it would be worth a try for those who have no interest in "owning" (and I use this term loosely) their books.  
They do it with audio books at audible.com, why not with e-books?
 

I know what you mean by "owning" as right now I don't feel like I really own an ebook in the traditional sense.  I pay for them and I read them and well then they're pretty much worthless to me as I can't sell them, lend them or give them away.

[MineKinder]

I would be first in line for this
You have a Great idea, really Great!
I have no need to "Own" or whatever you want to call it, these ebooks.
I would happily pay for a plan, such as Netflix for ebooks!
I have Netflix now for movies, as I have no desire to own DVD's.

[Greg Banks]

I pay for them and I read them and well then they're pretty much worthless to me as I can't sell them, lend them or give them away.

How are they "worthless" if you read and enjoyed them? That is what a book is for, after all. You've never owned the contents of a book, just the physical object on which it was printed. As ebooks don't have a physical aspect, what exactly do you expect to sell? There's no such thing as a "used" ebook. I have no problem with people selling their physical books, but in this case, you'd be selling my intellectual property, the exact same property in the exact same condition as a newly sold ebook would have. The only difference is that YOU would get paid for my work instead of me.

At least with a Netflix model, presumably we authors would get a cut of the earnings, or get some sort of upfront compensation for the right to rent my ebooks. Although in a world in which you are dealing strictly with intellectual property instead of physical property, that's essentially what you're doing now with the Kindle Store. The only difference is that your "rental" of the content is perpetual rather than short lived.

[Forster]

How are they "worthless" if you read and enjoyed them? That is what a book is for, after all. You've never owned the contents of a book, just the physical object on which it was printed. As ebooks don't have a physical aspect, what exactly do you expect to sell? There's no such thing as a "used" ebook. I have no problem with people selling their physical books, but in this case, you'd be selling my intellectual property, the exact same property in the exact same condition as a newly sold ebook would have. The only difference is that YOU would get paid for my work instead of me.

At least with a Netflix model, presumably we authors would get a cut of the earnings, or get some sort of upfront compensation for the right to rent my ebooks. Although in a world in which you are dealing strictly with intellectual property instead of physical property, that's essentially what you're doing now with the Kindle Store. The only difference is that your "rental" of the content is perpetual rather than short lived.

After ebooks are read they have minimal if any value left, unlike a DTB which you can sell, lend, trade or give away.  I said nothing about having expectations about doing that with ebooks so I not sure why you read that into my statement.  I plain said you can't and hence once read they have no/little value to me anymore and why as a reader a short-term rental of the content makes more sense to me.

[ak rain]

I did trade dtb in some great used book stores. I kept my favorites. As I reread having the ebook library in my kindle I find value and pleasure as I do my book shelf.
sylvia

[Forster]

I did trade dtb in some great used book stores. I kept my favorites. As I reread having the ebook library in my kindle I find value and pleasure as I do my book shelf.
sylvia

But with a subscription you could have access to a huge library, well at least as long as you kept your subscription up.

Right now with netflix I have access to 100,000 titles 12,000 of which I can watch instantly.  IMO it would be completely cool to have that kind of access to ebooks via a subscription.

[cheerio]

I think most people are going to want to own the books

[Forster]

I think most people are going to want to own the books

I'd have agreed with you 6 months ago.  At least for me I'm seeing less and less value of "owning" an ebook.

[ak rain]

But with a subscription you could have access to a huge library, well at least as long as you kept your subscription up.

Right now with netflix I have access to 100,000 titles 12,000 of which I can watch instantly.  IMO it would be completely cool to have that kind of access to ebooks via a subscription.

oh even I could take advantage of it an example  would be on investigative reads like trying out a new genre. Netflix's watch instantly is not available to me and many others due to bandwidth and books transfer quickly so a netflix type ebook would be better.
sylvia
sylvia

[kim]

I'd have agreed with you 6 months ago.  At least for me I'm seeing less and less value of "owning" an ebook.

I also agree.  I used to be one of those who could not get rid of a book, it had to sit on a bookshelf somewhere.  Not anymore.  Read It and Delete It!  That's the way I roll now.

I would check out a rental service.

[bkworm8it]

I would love this, wouldn't have to worry about getting it back to the library on time    

I agree with you about the value after its read.  I don't even get to pass them on to my mom and sister as neither of them or myself can afford to get them a kindle. I used to always pass good books on to them and it was fun discussing them after everyone read them.

Theresa

[legalbs2]

I hate Netflix and the idea of it.  They started out cheap enough then skyrocketed in price.  I like owning my Kindle and the books.  I do NOT want a subscription of any kind.  Hate them.  

Now, if we rent the books at a constant low price, then maybe that would be good, but no subscriptions.  I will go get my ebooks for free online at the library.

Just because you read a book once, does not mean you might not want to read it over and over at some point.  If you rent it, good luck on that.  Pay over and over or pay once?

[mlewis78]

I could see having this if the price were comparable to the one at a time rate at Netflix, which is about $9 a month (forget what it comes to with sales tax).  I always read multipl books in a month, so it would come out costing less -- you'd get a month worth of reading for $9.  If it cost more than that, it wouldn't be fore me.

I don't think that Amazon will have this service, since it's not such a good deal for the authors and publishers.

[Maebnus]

I'd love a rental system for ebooks, whether it be a monthly subscription or pay-by-book plan.  But only if you don't have to use Whispernet to get the books (since then it's no good to me).

I read far too many books to care about keeping them all, and I'm unlikely to re-read any but my favorites (of which I'd happily purchase forever versions).

[Pawz4me]

I'd love a Netflix-type program for e-books.

With very rare exceptions, I've never kept books that I've read.  Not having to deal with finding someone to give DTBs books to, or place to donate them, was one of the huge factors that attracted me to the Kindle.  As soon as I read a book on the Kindle, I delete/archive it.  So a subscription type thingie would be perfect for me.

[LindaW]

I actually love this idea.  I would probably spend less money - and if I don't like the book, it's not "stuck" forever in the content manager.  I've read a ton of books that I've enjoyed - but see no reason to ever read again.  This has been my biggest pet peeve with the Kindle.  I love being able to trade in books - and obviously now I can't. Tis would be right up my alley!

I love Netflix. My husband and I are big movie fans - and we watch anywhere from 2 - 4 movies a week with them.  I return a movie, and I get the next one in my queue the very next day - they are that quick.  Plus, we now use the instant play a lot! 

[kathygnome]

I subscribe to the Rhapsody 2 Go service, which means I pay $20 a month and I get all the music available on Rhapsody on my PC and capable of being put on my mp3 player. I don't own it and if I stop paying, I can no longer access the files on the site and my mp3 player has a "playsforsure" chip in it that will stop playing downloaded tracks from the service unless it's connected to my PC and the license refreshed every... I think it's 30 days?

I love it. I listen to what I want when I want. I'm free to peruse old music that I've never heard of. I don't have to wonder if it's worth $15 to buy some old thing from the 80s out of nostalgia that I might never listen to again. If I want to listen to an artist that I probably will never listen to again, I'm free to do so. And I never really feel the sting of not "owning" music because it's portable enough that the model never intrudes on my life. (Granted, I'm a bit lucky in having an input jack on my car's audio system.)

At least for us, it's almost certainly a big "win" for the music industry because when it came down to it, we very rarely found something worth paying for the CD. Or we never got to the store. Or whatever. So before we had Rhapsody, we probably spent $5 a month or less on music. Just a couple of CDs a year. Now they extract the $20 a month reliably.

I would love something where I paid however much a month to Amazon (or whomever) and had the entire kindle library available. However, one of the issues right now is so little is really available on ebook. I almost never go onto Rhapsody and find anything missing. I don't know that the kindle library is really there yet, particularly for the ability to pull out old books I remember from when I was a teen or in college that I might not even get past the first chapter of. But that kind of availability of obscure stuff is really why I enjoy Rhapsody.

[jason10mm]

Thre is a HUGE interest in this type of model (monthly subscription service) across almost every form of media/entertainment that can be digitally distributed. Music, movies, games, e-books, audiobooks, etc. Companies would LOVE to have a steady income stream each month with no concerns over the used/resale market.

The ongoing problem of reimbursment to authors/artists is an issue, especially as digital distribution could cut out a lot of the middlemen we are used to seeing jack up the prices of our media. Having a flat rate subscription gets around this by not directly lowering the perceived value of the content, has a high "value for the dollar" among heavy users but costs little additional overhead by the distributor, and keeps sucking $$$ from folks who underutilize the service. Thus it works more like a cable company. The "money makers" subsidize the fringe elements as everyone gets a little piece of the pie.

Book sellers should be all over this, as books can't really benefit from the repackage/upgrade cycle like VHS/DVD/Blu-ray nor the tech bumps like video games. I bet most authors see most of their sales within a few months of release with little back catalogue movement. A subscription model gives the author (or more likely, their publisher) $$$ throughout the year and a few mega hitters can subsidize a large number of lesser selling titles. Plus it would cut out the resellers that eat up so much of the back catalogue sales that do occur.

I have a personal issue with it though. When "renting" content I feel a self-imposed pressure to get through it quickly and move on, to maximize the value of the service. Makes me feel rushed.

But as a guy prepping for a possible overseas move, the thought of having my massive book, movie, and magazine library exist in a digital cloud accessible anywhere is VERY seductive! I shudder to think about the $ value of the magazines, paperbacks, and comics I'm dumping, probably enough to pay for years of a subscription service.

[lisa.m]

I would absolutely love this. I am sure it will come about one day too. I if I had the knowhow I'd look into starting it as a business.

I too subscribe to Rhapsody. I think it's a great thing. I only pay 15 a month for mine though, not sure why you are paying 20 kathy?

For those that wish to "own" the books, there is no reason why you couldn't purchase it after reading it if it appeals to you that much. Same thing can be done on Rhapsody.

There is a model for this for audiobooks now with Audible. I don't care to listen to my books though so that has never appealed to me. I wonder if the same company will look into subscription ebooks.

I don't understand some reactions to the subscription model. Many complain about it in the music genre. People don't complain about paying a monthly cable bill though. We don't "own" any of the tv shows we watch nor is there any expectation thereof. Same with all of the other monthly fees we pay in order to use items we own. (cell phones, internet, xm radio) At least the music creators, or in the book case, authors will collect some royalties rather than what usually happens which is illegal downloading.

I say yes to subscriptions all of the way!

[MarthaT]

that would be kind of neat, we use netflix and i really like the idea

[chilady1]

In my mind, if I pay for something, hardcopy or digitial, I own it.  Every single e-book I have purchased I consider my property.  After I purchase my books and they are sent to my Kindle, I go right back in and download every single one to my hard drive and back up a copy on my external drive.  This is now my property.  Granted, as some have pointed out, I can't trade or sell the books.  I have no interest in "renting" a copy of a book.  Just about every DTB that I have purchased before, I have re-read.  Therefore, it makes no sense to me to pay a monthly subscription fee and then get the book again when I want to read it.  If I own it, I have a copy of the book whenever the mood hits me.  I do understand the appeal of renting just not for me.  Great topic!

[mom133d (aka Liz)]

If my local libraries' eBook programs supported the Kindle format I might be less inclined. Although their offerings are pretty slim now, not much fiction to choose from. Their audiobook selections aren't what DH and I would really read either, so he has an audible account. I see an eBook rental system kinda like the library. I am loaned the book for a set period of time and then I have to give it back.

We do have a Netflix account as well. We don't get the chance to go to the movies often so this way we can see the movies we want, when we want (the library and box stores have 1 week rentals) and we will buy the ones we know we'll want to watch again. We do the same with books - titles we know we want to re-read we purchased; pre-Kindle, i just checked them out of the library.

[KindleMom]

I hate Netflix and the idea of it.  They started out cheap enough then skyrocketed in price.

We were in the first 500 of Netflix subscribers back in 1999 and have been with them ever since so of course, I'm biased.  And if you hate subscription services, it obviously isn't for you.

Netflix is actually quite a bit less expensive now than it was 10 years ago.  And if you have a blue ray player, xbox 360 or a netflix player, you can watch over 10,000 movies instantly on your TV.  Those same movies are also watchable on a computer.  This service is included with most Netflix subscriptions, possibly even all of them.  It is so fun to want to watch a movie, go to my laptop, browse, choose, and then watch it on my TV.  Love it!

So yes, Netflix started out expensive, got even a little bit more expensive but now it costs less than when it first started.

And as always, no late fees.   

To stay on topic, I would love an ebook subscription service.  We don't have a library where we live which is part of the reason I was so excited about the Kindle.  But frankly, I don't like purcahsing so many books when I'm only going to read them once.  I'd love to have the ability to read a book, return it and get something else.

How does one start a business like this? We should do it!!!