Amazon.com, online superstore and manufacturer of the Kindle e-reader, today announced Kindle MatchBook, a program that will provide owners of physical books with a free, or heavily-discounted, electronic copy.
The Seattle, Wash.-based company says that MatchBook will provide customers with digital versions of past, present, and future purchases. Prices will range from free to $2.99, making it affordable for customers to take their books everywhere. The service is scheduled to launch sometime in October.
Amazon says that it will be offering "thousands" of books in its MatchBook selection, some of which include Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain and Neal Stephenson's Anathem. Accessing this content, of course, can be done through one of the many Kindle apps available, or on your Kindle.
MatchBook is a lot like Amazon's AutoRip service, which delivers a digital copy of CD or vinyl music to the buyer's inbox or Amazon Cloud Drive immediately. Both services ensure that if you lose the physical copy, there's always a digital one somewhere on Amazon's ubiquitous servers. MatchBook is especially handy if you go on holiday without your textbook, or if you want to re-read that great John Green novel, which is currently hidden in the attic.
Source: Amazon.com: Kindle Matchbook