Is Amazon the ‘Netflix’ of books?

What if I told you that Amazon is becoming the Netflix for books?   I'm sure that many of you are probably thinking: "We already have something like that, it's called a library!"

Amazon has announced a proposal that would allow its premium Amazon Prime members ($79/Year) to have access to a streaming library of eBooks, audiobooks and other e-publications delivered exactly like Netflix's instant media streaming. 

The digital book list would consist of older titles-at least at first.  Publishers would be offered a substantial fee to participate in this program and downloading media would not be unlimited.

So far, no publishers have signed on because most of them are skeptical.  Some feel that the proposal would lessen the book business's worth.  The only problem that I can see with this proposal is it would be difficult to price publications and that is what these publishers are struggling with. 

Book publishers, similar to most other well-established media companies, are afraid to experiment with digital delivery for no real reason or for absurd reasons. 

Typically, skepticism and fear are unfounded worries but in this case, it is viewed as understandable.  The stakes are high considering that this proposal has the potential to either make or break publishing companies all over the world.

I'll put this plan into terms.  Let's assume that Amazon managed to convince a group of mid-level publishers or even a couple of the larger publishers to go along with this digital streaming proposal. 

All of the publishers would have to sort through their massive catalogs of books and determine which books would be popular enough to add to their roster. 

This would take months of research and labor to implement.

 After the roster is determined, the publishers then have to calculate what the author compensation would be to ensure that their writers are receiving proper pay. 

Another issue would be the books that are not converted to a digital format would have to be converted which is another intense and tedious process.

On the other hand, if this plan actually succeeded it could be almost revolutionary.  Amazon and its publishers could make enormous profits, which would lead to an increase in eBook popularity along with advancements in e-reader technology.  

 This idea would be brilliant, especially because I am in love with the idea of digitalizing everything. But it also has the potential to fail.  At a time when our economy is as frail as a sheet of glass, gambling with an already weakening book industry just seems foolish. 

In the grand scheme of things, maybe this is a sign that our society is not ready to make the leap into the digital age which saddens this writer.