What is 500,000 volumes of unlimited electronic book service "Oyster" getting popularity on YouTube?

An unlimited number of 500,000 volumes of unreadable electronic book service "Oyster"IOS · Android · Kindle application has been released, you can read books regardless of smartphone · tablet · PC and device, and in the latest application update list books like music playlists Features are also added. Regarding the future prospect of aiming at e-book service with popularity equivalent to YouTube and Netflix,IOS EmojiOyster founder, Willem Van Lanker, who is also the developer of The Verge, responds to The Verge's interview.

The future of books is on your phone, not your tablet | The Verge
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/5/7156767/oyster-willem-van-lancker-interview-future-of-books

Oyster has launched the service in 1 year, and 500,000 e-books including major artworks such as Disney are being developed as an unlimited service, with the latest updateGoodReadsYou can create a playlist that can be read by tapping a favorite e-book similar to "Book ListsFunction has been released. The Verge covered and interviewed Oyster for several weeks.


The Verge (Verge):
Even my friends with Kindle can not say that they are reading a large number of books. Amidst the entertainment options that are easy to obtain, how do you compete with Instagram and YouTube?

Willem van Lanker (hereafter, Ranker):


Among the young people, reading has come to be in the form of entertainment beyond music and animation depending on the situation. When traveling on the subway, when lying on the bed, when viewing YouTube and Oyster logo side by side, I am thinking about making a platform that you can read easily as you can think "Read books!" The total number of books sold worldwide is larger than the total number of movies and music, and it is recommended that the custom of "note attention by reading" is also globally. When you have to allocate the time of the day, will you spend more time on movies and reading? We noticed that there is a strong desire for reading.

Verge:
Once someone registers with Oyster, how do users get more books and feel the charm of Oyster?


Ranker:
Netflix is ​​doing this strategy brilliantly. Netflix's long-term plan is to make choices of "watching TV", "reading" and "watching Netflix" after thinking back to the user, and further choosing to "see Netflix" from choices "Magical It is getting a moment. If you customarily look at Netflix for the time being, you can analyze the playback data and curate and watch the movie you want to see, if you open Netflix, especially when there is nothing you want to see. Oyster is aiming the same thing.

Verge:
Certainly, Netflix's selection is very good. Netflix's page has been filled with a wide range of genres ranging from super-titre to class B horror, how about Oyster's selection?

Ranker:
For example, out of the top 250 sales published so far, Oyster stores 150 volumes in a library. "Adventure of Huckleberry FinnAlthough we do not deal with children's literature such as childhood literature like, but there is not one reason people ask for reading, collection of works that suits their needs is a challenge related to Oyster's reading. I am negotiating with many publishers to understand the user base, for entertainment, for learning, etc. and to acquire truly desired contents, widely.

Verge:
Whether the contract with the publisher is concluded by individual contract or package agreement?

Ranker:
Currently Oyster deals with 6 of 10 major American publishing companies. Every time I sign up with a company, thousands of titles from literary novels to SF will be stored in our library. In addition to that, we are also focusing on contracts with companies with independent content like Disney instead of major publishers. Every company has about 20 to 30 contents, but contents with strong brand power are almost contracted.


Verge:
How do users search for books in Oyster?

Ranker:
80% of users are reading the books found in the "Discovery" category, and increasing the content according to the demand of the user found out there. Like Netflix, we are also personalizing algorithms, Netflix's "Sentiment Analysis" is analysis of animation, while Oyster scans text, so it's easy to proceed with work It is done.

Verge:
What can you say if you use Oyster's pursuing keywords as a key word?

Ranker:
If it is a keyword it is "coupling of the theme". We have been developing a mechanism to recommend individual and precise books to users by forming a data science team which is the core of business. Even if there are two books in the same category, the reason why the book is interested is not just categories. So we are attempting to classify the nature of the books in an interesting way, and we will set up an editor who does not need humans by algorithm when classification is completed. If it is implemented, it will be able to push books that you would like to read even if it takes 7 hours to 8 hours to complete reading, as it will perform like "bookstore sales promotion activities".

Verge:
Is there one thing you have known when one year has passed since the service started?

Ranker:
The average stay time of Oyster users is more than an hour every day, which is equivalent to Facebook. Also, the user tends to open 4 books before starting to read a book, and has a sense of browsing the sample while browsing. This is probably because Oyster achieves the fastest download speed among competing electronic book platforms. Since you can read the first page as soon as you tap it, you can lower the barrier of "going to reading" very much. As a strange trend, while the reading speed of non-fiction is constant from start to finish, romance books rise steadily as the end approaches. Also, from the analysis it is understood that books people can not finish reading, for example "Great GatsbyAlthough I can begin to read, somehow I can not read to the end.


Verge:
Which of the tablet, smartphone, and web are the ones who read the continuation of the book once people interrupted?

Ranker:
It can be said that this represents the future of the book, but the most continued to read is the smartphone. This was a move that we were paying attention from the beginning, and explained at the time of contract with the publisher, "We can provide the best mobile experience for e-books." It is difficult to obtain these data on Android, but in iOS, the iPhone and iPad are exactly 50:50, and in the past few months the proportion of iPhone usage has been steadily rising. Depending on the smartphone application you always have in hand, users will spike access to apps during lunch, from night to late night etc. We keep a proper figure on weekends.


In addition, since adding a web reader to Oyster, the number of users who read books during work has increased, or access has risen sharply during the day on weekdays. That's why we've thought about introducing a button that will make the book you are reading look like Microsoft's Word.

Verge:
Have you been able to create effective innovation on the reading platform actually used by Oyster?

Ranker:
The most prominent example is that Oyster moves vertically by default, unlike page turning that slides beside the Kindle. This function is in the form of reading unique to e-books because you do not have to walk around the page "which clause you read up" when interrupting reading and resuming it. Of course you can also turn pages by swiping. Also, it is also possible for the user to decide the reading setting such as text size, background color, texture by theme like the Instagram filter selection. In the future I will also consider interesting display methods that make use of the characteristics of devices such as iPhone and iPad.


Although Oyster does not develop services in Japan, the monthly fee is $ 9.95 (about 1130 yen). Amazon is $ 9.99 a month (about 1140 yen) monthly in the United States and several European countries E-book readily available service "Kindle Unlimited"E-book ready-to-eat services for flat-rate e-books are being expanded all over the world.

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