Amazon to sell books, one page at a time.

Hey, why not?

[akmac]

"NEW YORK - With its new Amazon Pages service, Amazon.com Inc. plans to let customers to buy portions of a book — even just one page — for online viewing. A second program, Amazon Upgrade, will offer full online access when a traditional text is purchased."

From HERE [news.yahoo.com]

Especially interesting is a slap at google and yahoo:

"Copyright holders would determine whether the pages could be printed or downloaded.

"We feel strongly that copyright holders get to make these decisions," Bezos said."

[edited by: lawman at 10:00 am (utc) on Nov. 4, 2005]
[edit reason] Fix Sidescroll [/edit]

[grandpa]

I have always believed the web would be a great place to locate and read any book, saving a trip to the local library or book store. It never really happened.. until now. Amazon is offering the full length book online if you purchase the hard copy also. That sounds a little self defeating. But, they are also offering a pay-per-page option, presumably for any book in their inventory. Now that's progress. It would be really nice if they offered works in the public domain for free, or least for a small one time subscription fee.

Here's where I read about it. [usatoday.com]

<Add>
I see this is on the heels of G's Print (beta) of public domain materials. (I missed that) All I can say is that it was worth the wait, and I look forward to reading something I prefer, instead of what other people want me to read.
</add>

[grandpa]

Hoorah! And I found the very book I need :)

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Business
It's time to brew up a fresh pot of coffee.

[martinibuster]

The real news is that Google is considering doing the same.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[digitalghost]

No, the real news is that Amazon plans to do it. G is merely considering it. That's not news. G is considering lots of things. Maybe they should consider improving search, and that wouldn't be news either.

[martinibuster]

That they are considering entering the area of actually selling something (apart from shwag) is news because it signals they are open to doing something that isn't normally expected from them.

It could also be a red herring for stealing the limelight.

[digitalghost]

>>It could also be a red herring for stealing the limelight

That was my first thought. That and to take the focus off their other little project which is garnering ill will and lawsuits. Lately, the 'Plex reminds me of a washing machine stuck in the spin cycle.