I can sort of see where Amazon is coming from—-they have limited space for hyping up books, and if they spend that on books that are not truly exclusive, that adds less perceived value for the user (“Why am I paying for KU when I can find all the cool books on there somewhere else free”).
However, I can’t believe that’s the right move. I could probably pirate everything on Netflix pretty easily, but I pay for the convenience. If my favorite authors newest book was not on KU just because it was uploaded to another site I wouldn’t be happy.
None of the streaming services appear to be standalone profitable, seemingly the only way to turn a profit is via anticompetitive tying of services/software/hardware. Or maybe more ads.
The standalone services have already started making big cuts to their own original content, with HBO Max removing Westworld and Netflix planning to remove Arrested Development, as (profitable) physical media returns: most CDs sold since 2004 in 2022, DVDs returned to overtake Blu-ray, new cassette music releases, etc.
I have to say, my favorite use-case for Netflix was the DVD plan. I had a queue that was over 300 movies long. By the time something showed up in the mail, I didn't know what it was. I'd just put it in and watch it blind, a gift from my past self.
Then I briefly lived somewhere with unreliable mail, and they decided to close my account on a whim. My queue was lost. Honestly wouldn't mind something like that again, although maybe they could just send me little thumb drives or something, because I don't have any optical drives anymore.
However, I can’t believe that’s the right move. I could probably pirate everything on Netflix pretty easily, but I pay for the convenience. If my favorite authors newest book was not on KU just because it was uploaded to another site I wouldn’t be happy.