从Google对Oyster的收购可看出：电子书和新闻一样，正以内容制造方的角色出现在大型平台 原文链接

【阅读笔记】

鉴于以下观察，做电子书相关创业不是明智之举。

• 商业模式：电子书订阅模式很难盈利。

  • 电子书订阅网站Oyster此前宣布，他们正在关闭业务。Google收购了他家的许多资产，包括做得相当不错的手机端阅读技术和编辑评论；这其中并不包括他们和发行商之间的合同，因为Google只是想把手机端的阅读体验和编辑评论应用到Google Play.

• 消费者行为：人们越来越少购买电子书。

  • 在15年的前5个月里，电子书的销量持续下降。其中，青年读物（比如饥饿游戏）的销量较14年下滑43.3%。

• 竞争者：在手机端，电子书有无数的强有力的竞争者。

  • 由于现在越来越多的人用手机读书，电子书更多地被视为以一种内容的形式存在于手机端；那儿有无数的免费的其他内容正在与之竞争。

对电子书订阅服务的深入观察

• 主要玩家：Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, Oyster

  • Oyster正在关闭业务
  • Scribd 也于近几个月对其业务进行了削减

• 商业模型

  • Scribd和Oyster: 当读者阅读了一本电子书的部分篇章后，发行商就能以这本电子书的完整批发价收到支付。

  • Kindle Unlimited: Amazon每个月自行决定支付给作者的金额。最近，它宣布以后将根据阅读页数，而非借阅量，付费给作者。

  • 未来的商业模型: 尽管Kindle Unlimited的模型看似对发行商和作者没有吸引力，甚至是不友好，但这却是值得考虑的未来的商业模型。一方面，它比Scrid和Oyser的模型更具有可持续性；另一方面，Amazon作为商业巨头可以承担在这个项目上出现的亏损。

Google’s grab of Oyster suggests ebooks, like news, are becoming “content” read on big platforms See the Article

【My takeaway】

It appears to be unwise to launch any ebook startups in light of the following observations:

• Business model: Ebook subscriptions don’t work.

• Ebook subscription site Oyster announced that it’s shutting down. Google acquired many of its assets, including its strong mobile reading tech and its editorial content, but not its contracts with publishers, as Google is interested in bringing its mobile reading experience and editorial content to Google Play.

• Consumer behavior: People are buying fewer ebooks.

  • There has been a continuous drop in ebook sales over the course of the first five months in 2015. Young adult ebook (e.g. Hunger Games) sales were down 43.3% compared to 2014.

• Competitors: There is tons of other competitive content formatted for mobile.

  • With way more people reading ebooks on phones nowadays, ebooks are considered more as pieces of content, existing alongside a whole lot of other free content being read on phones.

A deeper look at the ebook subscription service world.

• Giant players: Amazon's Kindle Unlimited, Scribd, Oyster

  • Oyster is shutting down.
  • Scribd has made cutbacks to its service in recent months.

• Business model:

  • Scribd and Oyster: the publishers were paid an ebook’s full wholesale price when a reader completed just a portion of it.

  • Kindle Unlimited: the authors were paid out of a set pool of money, the amount of which is set at Amazon’s discretion each month. Recently, Amazon decided to pay the authors by the number of pages read, rather than by the borrow.

  • Future model: Although the Kindle Unlimited model seems way less attractive or even unfriendly to publishers and authors, it could be the future model to consider, as it is more sustainable than the Scribd and Oyster model. Plus, it is backed by a giant company that can actually afford to take a loss, if any, on the program.