“It’s all smart kitchens and talking bikes these days.”
A couple of years ago some colleagues and I were talking about the cleverness of the Netflix model, and we wondered if there was any other product that could be rented/distributed via mail in the same way. One co-worker suggested how it would be great if we could rent books for free, and then return them when we were done. After the laughter died down, we explained to him that he had just invented the public library. But this was all pre-Kindle.
Here is my free idea for Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and any public library: Allow your books to be rented for e-readers. So how would this work? Libraries would purchase a number of copies of an e-book, and then a library patron with an e-reader could get a code for the digital copy of the book and download it from either the library system or an e-book seller. After two weeks, when the book was due, the library would cancel the code and the book would be removed from the e-reader. As Amazon demonstrated in 2009 with the 1984 kerfuffle, the ability to remotely wipe e-books exists.
But what about the lost sales to e-book sellers due to free downloading via the library? I am no expert in library and publishing economics, but I assume that if you’ve decided to check out a book from the library, you’ve already made the decision not to buy it. The free library system is predicated on the idea of one purchase, many readers—so retailers are not losing money, as it was never going to be spent in the first place.
There are some concerns about piracy, as digital media is relatively easy to pirate. A host of digital rights management schemes are available now to thwart illicit downloads. Also, Netflix seems to have managed this problem—even with its live streaming of movies—so it is not insurmountable.
To sweeten the pot for e-book retailers, perhaps the library would share a bit of demographic information about the e-borrowers, allowing retailers to build more effective advertising plans.
So there you go, libraries and retailers: Free idea. And on a personal note (and for full disclosure), as a Kindle owner, I look forward to seeing it reach fruition.
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Looking at the long-term of [something something something].
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Have you checked out Overdrive.com? They have partnerships with libraries and you can check out ebooks or audio books for free, using your library card. It’s great! I’ve been using it for over a year now. I even cancelled my Audible membership, because they have so much great content (I mostly use audio books for the commute). It’s not as comprehensive as Audible or Kindle and newer titles are often in heavy demand, but for free, it can’t be beat!
I hope someone takes up your idea. I might even consider getting an e-reader if that happens.
Being a studied late majority on all things regarding personal electronics, I cheer the early adopters on in their pursuit of the Next Big Thing. I’ll probably buy someone’s Kindle, or likely an Android smartphone with a comparable e-reader, off Craigslist in a year or two. And I’ll have the cognoscenti to thank for my behind-the-curve lifestyle. Keep up the good work, y’all. A whole subpopulation of downwardly-mobile folks like myself are waiting for your castoffs!.