This week’s elevator pitch comes from BookGlutton.com. Although the pitch is long-winded and lacking energy and enthusiasm, it did alert us to this site that is worth checking out.
BookGlutton.com is basically a community for online book reading. The site promotes and encourages social interaction in reading and is ideal for book clubs. You can read though any of the books uploaded in full length or upload your own and share with others. One downside is the library is limited to public-domain works, which doesn’t offer a lot of recently published books. You can also join groups devoted to a certain author or type of book, like this group that is reading British literature. BookGlutton has even posted a nifty how-to video on YouTube about how to share books.
And if you want to restrict your group to just close friends, you can create a private book club. You can even make public or private notes while you read.
As of now, BookGlutton is ad-supported, but the site is looking to sell content in the future.
I’m already looking forward to starting a TechCrunch book club of my own!
“Although the pitch is long-winded and lacking energy and enthusiasm . . .”
In other words, “bookish”
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I think we should get this elevator repaired.
1 minute 54 seconds is way too long to get to the lobby.
ya I see that
freefreebiefinder.com
hmm looks good. Something similar to what I am working on …
Lets c
I really want to love this site. Is it wrong to want to see technical books and essays here as well?
Every time I go to a blog I like that recommends a book I always wish I could just read it online and save it for later and also chat with other enthusiasts about it. Grow faster now!
amazing pitch.
Is obama’s IQ really 125? Wait, Bush’s IQ is 125 too? Incredible.
Interesting… I wonder why the network and wall sockets are not horizontally aligned.
Sorry!
Thumbs down on this pitch.
docstoc, scribd and others already own this space.
Android->activity->kindle emulator
That would be an application that you could sell for $4.99 or so on G1 and other Android devices. That space is still wide open.
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
// implement Android Kindle here
}
The reason I won’t make this app is because I am knee deep in an enterprise app that is higher yield.
(Disc: I am a user)
I am not sure if I agree. I believe they have been around as long as scribd, docsoc and etc. For at least 3 years if not longer, and exhisted prior to Amazon’s Kindle. I don’t think they copied– Also their reader functions differently than any of the others out there. They use the open-source EPUB format uniquely. I have not seen it in any literature (fiction/nonfiction)- sharing site elsewhere.
I am glad to see BookGlutton here- I have been wondering why they have been so quiet for so long. I have not seen splashes of news/ PR about them since 2007. I had hoped they would really become bigger and maybe this is a great step!
We need this service {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/i157bylwcX_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”We need this service ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/R6yeemuG9g”}}}
BookGlutten does not work well on the iPhone. I just tried it.
iPhone and Android are mobile platforms with rich app building tools. An app that downloads and manages ebooks would be preferable to one where the iPhone view scrolls left and right of a page in the boundary areas, and where the navigation is horrible.
I know you are trying to pimp the service, but get real. This is not made for the iPhone or any other mobile.
When you navigate to the website, the website does not read the user-agent to present mobile users with the correct version of the site if one even exists. Even if there was a mobile site it would not compare with the functionality of an on device manager.
scrolls everywhere silly like {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/bsDFG7GXvV_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”scrolls everywhere silly like ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/5QIoITTDW0″}}}
We need to encourage services like this {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/GJD1qqmMTP_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”We need to encourage services like this ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/6n0clcQMpL”}}}
my response to the above video {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/DnLSF9MyvD_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”my response to the above video ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/prLJdcE1sR”}}}
here’s what would be good {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/EiRu9wRKMl_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”here’s what would be good ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/VNsnCw3Imv”}}}
Andrew, your show is really good, but you should remind people that everybody that kept their jobs, such as myself through this recession in Southern California, has to deal with board rooms and artificial goals all the time. I do every single day. I have to meet goals that I did not set. Most people do. Even Scoble does.
If you can’t meet your goals for an employer or investors, what are the chances you can meet them for yourself?
Anybody can hit realistic goals, only pros can hit the unrealistic ones. The worst corner cutter I ever met was Mauro Mariani of Mangrove(offshore payroll, no french health care for employees, in and out of france every 6 months) and he sold skype to ebay for an insane amount.
You would be surprised what these startups that make it do. They do insane things. There’s nothing sane about the tech industry. Especially not startups.
“um, yeah, just sleep in the office,, yeah….”
She’s a fake blondie, and comes up wiyh a dull pitch? Anything new here?
You just saw the drapes, you didn’t see the carpet.
Scroll down.
speaking of dull who wears a suit in there facebook pic?
I haven’t tried it, but Travis seems a true believer in the printed (and displayed) word, and as a fellow lover of stories, I support bookglutton wholeheartedly.
Personally I prefer reading (or listening: http://dublit.com) alone and then discussing (usually much) later, but perhaps the time has come to read interactively.
I will try it.
When did reading become a “community” experience? Dunno about you, but there’s nothing more annoying than someone on the train trying to read over my shoulder. And now I can experience that. In pixel form. THANK YOU INTERNET
I’m not a fictional reader, more tech articles and tech books reader , but from what I saw this isn’t that bad of a site. If they get an iphone and android app, could make it that much better.
Wow, some of these are comments are idiotic and downright sexist/rude. You do realize she’ll be reading this, right?
As for the service, I think it’s valid and I like some of the design of the actual book backdrop. However, I wouldn’t switch away from books.google.com until it actually became nearly as fast. I know it’s downright extremely challenging to compete with Google javascript wizardry, but you’ll need to, because you can bet on Google Books implementing “Themes” and “Annotations”/”Notes” (except in a more advanced way like in a Word document) in due time… and you can also bet Google is working on a plan to let people prove/obtain their licenses/copies of books they own to access them fully online and to compete with Kindle.
That said, Google Books and Kindle aren’t the be-all-end-all, so if BookGlutton really improves their interface, themes, speed + keeps adding on better features, they’ll get a ton of readers using it. And surely in the long run another big book competitor of Google & Amazon will want to snatch up BookGlutton for their own expansion.
The pitch itself wasn’t bad but, agreed, it needs to hammer in a summary in the first 30 seconds to give a listener an “ah-ha” moment.
Try this (fueled by beer):
***TAKE 1***
“Reading books on your computer screen can really be annoying and a pain on the eyes. …But not anymore! BookGlutton.com is a site that displays books and text like a real book with rich, fancy paper and ink. Turn any net connected device — from your desktop to laptop to tablet, iPhones, and PDAs — into your own digital book reader for free.”
“Beyond the pretty pages, you can add notes, chat with others reading the same book, upload your own text, and add to the community.”
“So, start loving reading (online) for the very first time. BookGlutton.com is your own digital book reader for free. No Kindle needed!” *charming wink*
“Time to read.” ***settles back in leather lounge chair, w/ leisure jacket & bubble pipe as if about to open book; ZOOM OUT, pan around to reveal sitting behind a large screen monitor w/ BookGlutton (bubbles))***
***CUT***
…oops, less an elevator pitch, more a webmercial… oh well /ramble
P.S. I only tested the interface for a minute so maybe I’m missing something. Good luck.
She needed to hammer it in the first 30 seconds..
Maybe remember when they burned witches and books..video of witch and books being burned..
Than we destroy the need for books..
Funny video of site destroying books..
Greeze the quality of TechCrunch comments are going the way of YouTube and FAST.
I am very surprised by what some of you are saying. The personal attacks would make me think that I am reading an Xbox vs PS3 thread.
I like the idea, too bad the site doesn’t have some of my favorite books — Think and Grow Rich, As A Man Thinketh — I’d love to see what others had to say about my fav. excerpts.
i don’t see a lot of people discussing or annotating books that they’re engrossed in, while they’re reading them.
i think it IS the technology frankly. you can’t bend or roll up a kindle to fit your reading position.
is this a killer app for online reading? doubt it. is this a killer app for book groups? maybe
also: go crusaders!
“It’s not because people don’t wanna read in front a a computer” – Yes, that’s exactly the reason, at least for me.
Reading a short article in front of a computer is something totally different from reading a whole book.
I hate to break it to her. But the reason IS because people don’t want to read a 500 page book in front of the computer. A book is tangible and less stressful on the eyes. I can stuff a book anywhere, during long trips, at the beach, etc.
I would never intend to knock the idea or the effort.
As with the music business, when it comes to books — readin’ and writin’ and publishing — I think the more experimentation (and risk taking) the better.
There isn’t any new thing in this regard that isn’t admirable if not valiant in the attempt and I wish them well.
I am a little concerned that a few giant players — kindle, google, etc. — could come to dominate a field that was once known well for being a most diversified and eccentric realm of business and creative activity.
On the flip side of that, having a few big players consolidate an industry that is extremely spread out could be good. Force more standardization of distribution on a platform that is infinitely big, and drastically reduce the barriers to entry for new writers & publishing houses.
Would you rather go to a dozen record stores looking for a particular album, or spending 5 seconds finding it on iTunes? A goodly many people would prefer the latter.
It’s a great question and I agree with your answer.
I’ve been wrestling with the question for several years.
In the long run, your positive scenario will come to be.
Moreover, when that new stage has been reached, perhaps that is when a new wave of diversification could again take hold (the rich potential of Web2 apps at their best make it very easily conceivable to me).
However, for the time being if you are living in a mid-sized city in the U.S. (and paying attention), you are seeing tangible media in the form of books, records, and CDs (not to mention the brick and mortar etabliments where they were once purveyed) vanishing.
Artifacts that are at once both rare and of ongoing desirability are being eased out from marginal regions and cities by means of online sales and dispatched to the alpha cities from where capital markets are dominant and new media trail blazing is the norm.
It is painful to witness. If one has any lack of confidence in the new platforms that are taking shape to satisfactorily replace what seems to be disappearing with an accelerating speed, there is a vague “farenheight 451″ quality to the phenomenon.
That aside, there is every indication that the new platform is going to work fine for propagating new voices and writers, though I still wish for many platforms spread relatively far and wide rather than one or two gargantuan platforms in Seattle or Mountain View.
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I disagree… I don’t want to read a book online. It hurts the eyes… it lacks that book smell. Plus I like having books be an escape from technology.
4
nice 2, – Pradeep
7
nice 9, – Pradeep
9
nice 5, – Pradeep
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When I first heard about Book Glutton I was skeptical. Because of the superior resolution and lack of glare of paper, few people have good reason to do extensive reading on their computers and the “social experience” seemed like yet another company jumping on the social network of X bandwagon. But after getting into the site I feel they have unique value not found anywhere else, enough so to now give people good reason to read online.
Any comparison to Google Books or Kindle really misses out on what Book Glutton is all about. These sites simply let you search for and read a book online, but offer nothing more.
But what if you were in the middle of reading a great book and when you reached an especially exciting chapter there just happened to be a roomful of people reading the same chapter there to talk and share your experiences with. This is what the “Talk” feature of Book Glutton does. It creates the ability to add discussion to the reading experience in a way I haven’t experienced since college Literature class, at any time.
And while a book is the brainchild of a single author, giving the entire reading community the ability comment and markup the book adds in the collective value of the readers. The book is no longer a static, unchanging text, but now a dynamically growing community effort.
With BookGlutton the passive, solitary activity of reading a book, now becomes an active group process. Just as the change of Web 1.0 to 2.0 was the move from the passive, solitary experience of looking at web pages to an active and interactive web that we work together to create, Book Glutton does the same for books. You could say Book Glutton is ushering in the era of Reading 2.0.
Did I finally one-up TechCrunch?
I actually featured this company on my blog back at the beginning of December – http://www.babe...ek-bookglutton/. Love the concept – dedicated management team… It’s not really the “computer’s Kindle.” It’s so much more. As I stated, “BookGlutton combines the glam of social networking with the age-old love that people have for books.” They have a bright future!
Crystal Williams
Chief Blogging Babe
BabeofBusiness.com
hmm looks good.
You could say Book Glutton is ushering in the era of Reading 2.0.
Does anyone else see the resemblance to older versions of amazon.com here? Check archive.org…
A long pitch and a worn out interface would probably kill this pitch for me if I were a VC.