
Bookswim – Netflix for Books - rstan251
http://highfade.com/2008/11/03/bookswim-netflix-for-books/
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Harkins
A two hundred-word blog post about a commercial version of libraries with an
affiliate link is not a good post.

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theantidote
I've always like the idea of a Netflix for books but it doesn't seem
profitable to me. USPS Media Mail would be the only way to ship them. Right
now from DC to Pittsburgh the cost of shipping a 1lb book is $2.23 and the max
is 10lb for $5.38. Even then that's assuming you have regional shipping
centers for these things all over the country, or you charge customers
different rates depending on how far away they are from the shipping center.

It's too much work and I don't think it's profitable in the long run.

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run4yourlives
Couldn't you just go to the library?

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blurry
You can get movies at the libary, or on tv. Netflix is still a killer service.

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run4yourlives
Because Netflix competes with video stores, which offer a better selection and
next to guaranteed availability of movies, especially new releases. Video
stores are the established market with which Netflix compares.

Last time I checked, there aren't any established book rental places. This is
probably due to a few factors, but the biggest is that a library is doing this
job about as efficiently as possible already, for free.

Basically, this startup is competing against something that is free, funded by
government, and offers no real advantage, other than the fact that I get to
use my computer instead of walking down the block.

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blurry
What are you talking about? Where do you get these hyper efficient libraries
open after hours and on weekends on every single block?

In the real world, libraries are slow, far and few between, poorly stocked
with weeks-long inter-library waiting lists, and open during hours convenient
only to the un-employed.

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run4yourlives
Fair enough, those are all good points.

I still question this initiative though, for the simple fact that there are no
book rental stores the same way that there are movie rental stores. There are
book stores, libraries, and even used book stores, but no rental stores.

That bothers me. It tells me that there is something about the way people
consume books that is inherently different about how they consume movies.

At any rate, I'm not educated about the topic enough to know this answer. This
site is going to find out whether this is an untapped gem or a bust waiting to
happen.

I wish them luck.

