Slog - Comments on Num Num Num http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num 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... Copyright 2008 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:00:00 -0800 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:18:37 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Greg "Cheaper" and "college textbook" are mutually exclusive terms.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114044 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114044 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:24:08 -0800 Comment by Fnarf 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.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114062 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114062 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:36:25 -0800 Comment by me 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!

]]> me http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114087 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114087 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:58:19 -0800 Comment by Fnarf 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!

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114089 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114089 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:59:47 -0800 Comment by michael strangeways 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"...

]]> michael strangeways http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114096 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114096 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:08:01 -0800 Comment by Christin The correct spelling for that particular internet-onomatopoeia is "Om nom nom."

Just so you know.

]]> Christin http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114106 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/num_num_num#c1114106 Books Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:18:37 -0800