Michael Stephens at Tame the Web points to an upcoming service called BookSwim that will launch the 1st quarter of 2007. Basically they’re going to do the NetFlix thing for books – for a subscription fee (amount unknown), you can enter your name in a queue for one of their 80,000 titles and they’ll ship you the book to read. Keep it as long as you like, then ship it back (no cost to you either way, other than your subscription fee).
I’m conflicted. I’m definitely not their target market, as I’m a heavy user of the local public library system, which has an excellent collection. Maybe for the rural folk? So maybe it’s a good idea, but will it work as well as NetFlix? Aren’t DVDs a lot cheaper to ship than books would be? And storing inventory will be a challenge with books – they’re all different sizes, unlike DVDs. BookSwim has a brochure (PDF) that compares their model with that of traditional bookstores and libraries and has a few iffy claims (their books are always in excellent condition while libraries are at best “good” condition – not sure how they’ll guarantee that one unless they’re replacing worn books).
I don’t think I’m knocking it just ’cause I’m a librarian; I don’t feel threatened, and I think I think it’s a good idea. Just not sure it’s going to fly. Keep an eye on ’em.
Comments
4 Responses to “BookSwim – NetFlix for Books”
Not sure I see the market here, honestly. the only difference between this and libraries is a more inconvenient delivery model and the lack of fines. However, if people have to pay an up-front fee and/or monthly charges, are they going to feel like they’re saving anything? Plus, 80,000 is a pretty skimpy collection relative to a lot of library systems… Then again, I once thought Second Life was a fad with no applications for librarianship, so… *shrug*
Came across your blog, and thanks for your kind words. As one of the founders of BookSwim, we are very keen to any issues we may come across. You’re right that DVD’s are a far easier medium to deal with, but our intention and desire is to encourage readers. Not enough people read nowadays and part of that is because books aren’t exactly as easily available as DVD’s. We’re looking to make books more available to the public and we have solutions to many of the problems you posed.
We do appreciate any feedback we get, so thank you for taking the time to look at what we have to offer.
Shamoon
Shamoon, I do wish you luck – I’ve signed up to be notified when your site launches. Sarah, I know what you mean, but maybe that’s why you and I aren’t millionaires yet! 🙂
I can see this making sense if BookSwim built niche collections that people may not have easy access to through their local library. Examples that come to mind include gay and lesbian fiction/non-fiction and books written in a language other than English. You can find decent collections in many (most?) urban and suburban public library systems. However, the further out you go into the exurban and rural areas you don’t have a lot of choice.
That being typed in Ohio and Pennsylvania (and probably every other state) you can get pretty much anything you want for free through the public or academic library interlibrary loan streams for free. I have to believe their target market is people who don’t like going to/are too lazy to use their local library.
I also don’t understand the rationale behind Shamoon’s comment, “Not enough people read nowadays and part of that is because books aren’t exactly as easily available as DVD’s. We’re looking to make books more available to the public…”
How are books not easily available? You can get books at a library, a bricks and mortar bookstore, an on-line bookseller, or even in the wild thanks to BookCrossing.