Bookswim – Netflix for Books

http://highfade.com/2008/11/03/bookswim-netflix-for-books/

by rstan251 • 18 years ago

3 7 18 years ago

highfade.com

Harkins• 18 years ago

A two hundred-word blog post about a commercial version of libraries with an affiliate link is not a good post.

run4yourlives3• 18 years ago

Couldn't you just go to the library?

blurry2• 18 years ago

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

run4yourlives3• 18 years ago

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.

theantidote• 18 years ago

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.

Bookswim – Netflix for Books

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