Books Num Num Num
posted by on August 26 at 12:00 PM
What’s that sound, you ask? Why it’s the sound of Amazon.com consuming social networking site Shelfari.
“Shelfari, a social network for bibliophiles, has been acquired by Amazon for an undisclosed amount. Amazon has been a longtime supporter of the Seattle based startup, having invested $1 million in the site in February 2007.The move comes less than a month after Amazon’s acquisition of AbeBooks, a vendor of rare and used books from independent publishers. As part of that acquisition Amazon also got a stake in Shelfari’s competitor LibraryThing, which AbeBooks had previously purchased a 40% stake in.”
I wrote about another book social networking site, GoodReads, here. I joined Shelfari and LibraryThing, too, and I was really passionate about each of them in turn before I immediately forgot about them. I don’t know if I remember my password for any of the three. But Amazon clearly believes that this sort of thing is valuable, and I’m sure Shelfari information will start showing up in Amazon’s book information pages soon. And congratulations to the Shelfari kids down in Pioneer Square. I trust they made a mint on this deal.
Also up at The ‘Zon, which I learned while researching this story is what some Amazon employees call their company, it looks like Kindle 2.0 is already on the way, and it’ll be thinner, with a bigger screen, and, most significantly, cheaper, with an eye on the college textbook market.
"Cheaper" and "college textbook" are mutually exclusive terms.
I was keen on LibraryThing for about a month, during which I engaged in a running battle with the Vladimir Nabokov House Museum Library in St. Petersburg to see who had the larger Nabokov collection. I lost, eventually, but not by as much as you might think. Last I checked several months ago I was still #2 -- and still #1 with my Kingsley Amis collection.
Aside from silliness like that I can't really see the point of it. One huge, huge problem, as with any user-generated content online, is BAD METADATA. Book owners are frequently TERRIBLE cataloguers, and don't know piffling details about their own books like the author and title.
I didn't realize Amazon had bought AbeBooks. That would explain why I recently (in the last few weeks) started getting AbeBooks emails trying to sell me things, when that has never happened in the 5 or so years that I've been buying books from them!
Oh, great, I go to check it again, and they don't have that "who has the most books by this author" link anymore. Bzzt.
Just as well, though; the VNM Library has about 20 times as many VN items as me now. Crushed!
yes, SOME Amazon employees call their company "The 'Zon"...
The majority of Amazon employees who DON'T, like to refer to those who DO, as "Lameass Douchebags"...
The correct spelling for that particular internet-onomatopoeia is "Om nom nom."
Just so you know.
Comments Closed
Comments are closed on this post.