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This feels like a huge loss. Readmill stood head and shoulders above other reading apps like Kindle and iBooks in terms of design. It was also one of the few se

This feels like a huge loss. Readmill stood head and shoulders above other reading apps like Kindle and iBooks in terms of design. It was also one of the few services that would let you upload ePub books to your account through the website and then sync your library to your mobile device. "Now cracks a noble heart.—Good night, sweet prince, And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!" I wish the team all the best at Dropbox, and I'm sure Dropbox will benefit immensely from their remarkable talent for building amazing software. At the same time, though, I wish they would have just started charging $10 a month for the service!

hyperbovine 12y ago
> It was also one of the few services that would let you upload ePub books to your account through the website and then sync your library to your mobile device. Or you could just toss it in your Dropbox... assuming they integrate Readmill into the mobile app, I fail to see why everyone doesn't win.
- markerdmann 12y ago
  That would be better than nothing, but there's still a long road between here and there! This also sounds like more of a soft landing or "acqui-hire" for a company that was running out of money rather than a concerted effort by Dropbox to push hard into the reading app space. I hope it is, but so far Dropbox hasn't even issued a press release about the acquisition, have they? And Readmill's design is just sexy as hell. It's sad to lose the experience of using their software.
  - dangoldin 12y ago
    I agree. All these acquisitions just make me want to come up with self hosted versions that I can run on my own. I know there's ShuBook but the experience just isn't there.
  - kranner 12y ago
    It would be incredible if they would opensource their iOS app at this point.
briandh 12y ago
> It was also one of the few services that would let you upload ePub books to your account through the website and then sync your library to your mobile device. Google Books does this now
- schwuk 12y ago
  Google Books is my preferred reading app for just this reason.
joeyd 12y ago
Pardon my unorthodox approach, would greatly appreciate your feedback on news.ycombinator.com/item?+748916
mandlar 12y ago
You can upload your own books into Google Books and syncs across devices (mobile/web). https://play.google.com/books/uploads https://play.google.com/books/uploads
- balladeer 12y ago
  As of now, it really doesn't look like a wise investment in anything Google that is not replaceable e.g. Search.
  - purephase 12y ago
    With the proliferation of Nexus tablets (or Android tablets in general) and that Play Books is stock in the OS, I feel pretty confident in it sticking around.
    - balladeer 12y ago
      The point is, and I should have made it clear in my original comment, I would usually prefer one company that just does something rather than a corporation that tries to do everything. Their priorities change quickly; mainly because they have a lot of products and even if a company is useful to them and their users they might shut it down because it might be "relatively" less important to them. Whereas a company which just does that might hang on to it and try to make that very service even better.
logicbox 12y ago
Ditto, was/is a beautifully designed application.

hyperbovine 12y ago

> It was also one of the few services that would let you upload ePub books to your account through the website and then sync your library to your mobile device. Or you could just toss it in your Dropbox... assuming they integrate Readmill into the mobile app, I fail to see why everyone doesn't win.

markerdmann 12y ago
That would be better than nothing, but there's still a long road between here and there! This also sounds like more of a soft landing or "acqui-hire" for a company that was running out of money rather than a concerted effort by Dropbox to push hard into the reading app space. I hope it is, but so far Dropbox hasn't even issued a press release about the acquisition, have they? And Readmill's design is just sexy as hell. It's sad to lose the experience of using their software.
- dangoldin 12y ago
  I agree. All these acquisitions just make me want to come up with self hosted versions that I can run on my own. I know there's ShuBook but the experience just isn't there.
- kranner 12y ago
  It would be incredible if they would opensource their iOS app at this point.

briandh 12y ago

> It was also one of the few services that would let you upload ePub books to your account through the website and then sync your library to your mobile device. Google Books does this now

schwuk 12y ago
Google Books is my preferred reading app for just this reason.

joeyd 12y ago

Pardon my unorthodox approach, would greatly appreciate your feedback on news.ycombinator.com/item?+748916

mandlar 12y ago

You can upload your own books into Google Books and syncs across devices (mobile/web). https://play.google.com/books/uploads https://play.google.com/books/uploads

balladeer 12y ago
As of now, it really doesn't look like a wise investment in anything Google that is not replaceable e.g. Search.
- purephase 12y ago
  With the proliferation of Nexus tablets (or Android tablets in general) and that Play Books is stock in the OS, I feel pretty confident in it sticking around.
  - balladeer 12y ago
    The point is, and I should have made it clear in my original comment, I would usually prefer one company that just does something rather than a corporation that tries to do everything. Their priorities change quickly; mainly because they have a lot of products and even if a company is useful to them and their users they might shut it down because it might be "relatively" less important to them. Whereas a company which just does that might hang on to it and try to make that very service even better.

logicbox 12y ago

Ditto, was/is a beautifully designed application.