Updated on December 10, 2021
Amazon’s announced “Kindle Unlimited,” an all-you-can-read ebook and audiobook service for participating authors. Basically, a “Netflix-for-books” as TechCrunch describes the service. Kindle Unlimited includes some big-name books (the Hunger Games trilogy, etc.), as well as Kindle-only exclusives. The service is limited (for now) to the US, and is $10/month. More in the TechCrunch article below:
It sounds impressive, though wonder if it’ll have the same flaw as Netflix, that is, not having all of the newest or biggest books. I’d also note that this is not only competing with existing similar services (Oyster, etc.), but also that long-standing service every town has for free, the public library. Kindle Unlimited’s one advantage over the public library might be in its selection of ebooks, per how expensive ebooks are for libraries to buy (which thanks to DRM/greed/fear of new media by publishers are way too expensive). Still, the public library has all of the paper versions for free, for those who don’t mind putting their electronic device aside.
