I’m seeing lots of discussion (and some hand-wringing) about the threat to libraries after Amazon announces the “Kindle Unlimited” plan which gives you access to 600,000 e-books plus thousands of audiobooks for a Netflix-like $9.99/month subscription.
Librarians and other defenders of open access and the public library were quick to respond:
I mean, if this unlimited Kindle subscription can not only lend us books, but provide safe places for our kids, educate us, help close the digital divide, provide specialized research assistance, help us in natural disasters, find us jobs, help the homeless population AND lend us free Kindles, then, well damn. I, for one, welcome our Amazon overlords.
Others point out that this may not be a boon for either readers OR authors that Amazon is making it out to be, especially if you’re a self-published author (which makes up a huge amount of Amazon content.)
Fortunately (?) Amazon Unlimited is not available in Canada…yet.
More interesting discussion as always at MetaFilter.