If you’re a reader, you’ve probably heard of Goodreads. It’s basically the social networking for books, with ratings, reviews, recommendations, and more. All in all, definitely the type of thing major ebook publishers would want to get their hands on.
In comes Apple. The Cupertino-based company reportedly spent about a year talking with Goodreads about possible integration with the iBookstore. This would work in much the same way that Rotten Tomatoes reviews appear in for movies in the iTunes store – Goodreads reviews would be displayed alongside iTunes reviews in the iBookstore.
Sounds great, right? Well it’s not going to happen. Last month, talks between Apple and Goodreads suddenly halted. The culprit? Amazon. That’s right, just when Apple was on the cusp of securing Goodreads integration, Amazon swept in and purchased the multi-million dollar literary social network.
There’s been no word from Amazon, but one can only assume the company plans to use the Goodreads reviews in the Kindle store in much the same way that Apple had in the iBookstore.
Of course, none of these acquisitions or corporate politics can really stop you from using whatever online bookstore you like in tandem with your Goodreads account. Integration right into the Kindle store is convenient, though.
