Building a Netflix for Books

Will people pay to rent books? Since 2007, one company has tried to build that new model.

Today’s guest on the Morning Media Menu was Chip O’Brien, director of customer service for Bookswim–a rental service for books. The company hopes to change reading the same way Netflix revolutionized the movie rental business. During the show, we discussed the delayed eBook release of Sarah Palin‘s memoir and the struggle to determine a fair price for digital books.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview: “Most people have felt the difficulty of getting to the library or the bookstore. Most new bestsellers retail for 27.95 and you can spend three months on the library wait list. People say, ‘This is a great idea, I can’t wait to get started.’ People come to us with a lot of excitement.”

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