Goodreads bought by Amazon

[duckduck]

Did everyone see this? I was semi-hermiting over my long and fragmented weekend and just heard the news.

What will this mean for you? Rejoicing? Shrugging? Screaming?

I liked Amazon for years, but now I feel like they are just too big and are forcing out too many other players. In my opinion, Amazon is dealing the death blow or consuming too many booksellers, publishers, and libraries. I'll be supporting B&N til the grim and bitter end, which I agree is probably inevitable.

Anyway, I am investigating LibraryThing. They're giving away free one-year memberships right now to encourage GR refugees to try them out (and a Lifetime membership seems to start at $19.00-- they apparently let you choose how much you want to pay).

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do about my GR account, but if LibraryThing turns out to be a viable alternative (I tried it years ago and wasn't crazy about it at the time), I may make a full switch.

[brandienee]

This makes me sad. I agree that Amazon is too big. It makes me just want to quit the internet all together.

[writingwithheld]

Eh, I think it is sad that Amazon is taking over so much, but I don't think this will really effect how I use the site. As long as they don't overtake it so much that it literally becomes one and the same I'll be fine. I wish they had gotten some financial backing from a "real" bookstore instead, but I guess it is an internet based site so it makes sense. I don't have an e-reader, so I am wondering if there will be any additional features that would actually be of use to me.

[dorothyinAus]

I really don't see it as a problem as long as they continue to list books that Amazon may not carry. I use it mainly as an online book catalogue. I only add books I actually own, rather than books I've heard about and want to read. I don't see that the Amazon influence will affect that too much.

But I do agree that Amazon is getting too big and is pushing out independent retailers. I try to buy as many books as possible from independent retailers, but it is so tempting to shop with my American Express points at Amazon, something I can't do at local shops. And Amazon has great prices, especially when you consider that a simple paperback overages $25 in Australia. I'm like a kid in a candy store on Amazon - I can get 3 paperbacks on Amazon for the price of 1 at a brick & mortar Australian shop.

[charlatti]

I'm willing to wait and see. I don't know that it will change much for how I use Goodreads, and I rarely buy books anyway.

[secretlyevil]

I'm more worried about Facebook taking over the world than Amazon. Although I don't think I will ever quite get over my Borders closing, which I blame on Amazon.

[duckduck]

Apr 5, 2013 13:03:36 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

I'm more worried about Facebook taking over the world than Amazon. Although I don't think I will ever quite get over my Borders closing, which I blame on Amazon.

Haha, seriously. I don't use my Facebook account to sign up for third-party sites, but so many times Wunderlist or whatever will mysteriously find and use my Facebook profile picture without consulting me. It's creepy.

[secretlyevil]

Cookies are the devil.

[whitepicketfence]

When it comes to books, I prefer B&N. I'll be a loyal customer until the end.

I dislike Amazon for a variety of reasons although I do buy from them if they are offering the best price on a particular item. I'll withhold judgment of them buying GR for now. If they start drastically changing the site or start advertising like crazy, then I'll reevaluate whether or not to delete my account.