STARTUP WATCH: Oyster
We’ve all heard about various startups being described in the form “X for Y”, where X is a proven company (or referring to some notable aspect of it, e.g. Pinterest’s board interface) and Y is some other market that the new business is trying to target. Sure, it’s a concise way of describing what you do, but there’s not much interest behind a lot of these ideas, save for the fact that they draw on something that’s already been done.
With that said, Oyster is probably going to be described by many as “Netflix for books.” Maybe it’ll be extended to “Netflix for books on the iPhone and, eventually, ‘phones’.” I prefer to think of a mobile-based members’ library (like, say “The London Library for iPhone”), and I think it’s a pretty cool idea. It’s definitely worth reading their blog post introducing the service, as it’s an excellent piece of writing that will most likely convince you like it did me.
“When you pay once each month and can read as many books as you’d like, you think about what to read, not what to buy.”
– Oyster Founders, Andrew, Eric & Willem.
If they can get publishers on board with the idea, this could get very big. I only wonder how long it is until they get an offer from Amazon. I just hope that they don’t get low-balled like Netflix apparently did. Or hey, maybe I do; this could be a great company in its own right.
AlphaQuirky 
Will you be able to get it on Kindle? I’m getting a kindle 🙂
I doubt it very much (unless Amazon do buy them out, that is). This would pretty much ruin the Kindle business model, which breaks even on hardware sales if it’s lucky. Which one are you getting? I’m very tempted by the paperwhite.
I just remembered you said you replied, I shall definitely tick the email box this time! I’m just getting the Kindle 4 to see how much I use it; I can always upgrade in future and give it to my mum if I want anything more out of it (basically the same philosophy in my blackberry choosing…I don’t buy things like this to watch movies on them anyway).
Site’s looking great, Dave!
That’s a pretty good philosophy! My mom got the Kindle they released last year for Christmas and I borrowed it a little while revising. It’s rather nice to read on, so I think you’ll enjoy it.
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the site! I’m just working on today’s post now.
Pingback: Google announces Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 in spite of event cancellation « AlphaQuirky