Back in January, Amazon announced AutoRip, enabling CD purchasers to instantly receive a digital copy of their album. It’s a nice feature, but it mostly made me even more eager for a similar service for e-books.
Still, AutoRip is painfully close to something I’ve found myself pining for since starting to use a Kindle e-reader: free Kindle copies of purchased physical books. Unlike CDs, there’s no easy way for book purchasers to create their own digital copy, so an “AutoRip for Books” would provide much more benefit. Someday, perhaps.
It appears that someday is here, or that it will be in October anyhow. Amazon has just announced Kindle Matchbook, a service for providing e-book copies of physical books purchased (both now and in the past) from Amazon.
Ultimately, the feature doesn’t look phenomenal. As you might expect, it only applies to books purchased new, not used, and the opening day library will not be vast. As well, obtaining most e-books books will require additional charge (albeit small), causing customers to buy the same product twice in different formats. Still, it’s a big step in the right direction.
