Watch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rival
Watch out, Amazon: The Kobo eReader now has a Goodreads rival
小心了，亚马逊：Kobo 电子阅读器迎来 Goodreads 的竞争对手
Another challenger to the Amazon Kindle-Goodreads book-tracking empire has emerged. On Monday, the reading tracker StoryGraph teamed up with Rakuten’s Kobo, the maker of a more open e-reader (and Kindle alternative), allowing book lovers to automatically track their reading habits. The integration was first announced in May and is now live for all Kobo account-based content.
亚马逊 Kindle-Goodreads 图书追踪帝国的又一位挑战者出现了。周一，阅读追踪平台 StoryGraph 与乐天旗下的 Kobo 达成合作。Kobo 是一家以生产更开放的电子阅读器（Kindle 的替代品）而闻名的公司，此次合作将允许书迷们自动追踪他们的阅读习惯。该集成功能最早于 5 月宣布，现已面向所有基于 Kobo 账户的内容正式上线。
This makes the Kobo the first e-reader to integrate with StoryGraph’s book community platform and serves as another way to chip away at Amazon’s dominance in the digital books market. Traditionally, Amazon has managed to retain its readers by offering low prices on books and e-books and combining that with a robust online reading community and social network, Goodreads. While many Goodreads competitors emerged over the years, few have been able to establish a solid footprint because they lacked the ability to integrate with customers’ e-reading devices, as Goodreads does with Kindle devices.
这使得 Kobo 成为首款与 StoryGraph 图书社区平台集成的电子阅读器，也成为了削弱亚马逊在数字图书市场统治地位的又一举措。长期以来，亚马逊通过提供低价图书和电子书，并结合强大的在线阅读社区和社交网络 Goodreads，成功留住了大量读者。尽管多年来出现了许多 Goodreads 的竞争对手，但很少有平台能站稳脚跟，因为它们缺乏像 Goodreads 与 Kindle 设备那样的硬件集成能力。
The StoryGraph-Kobo integration changes that, as it will now automatically sync a user’s reading progress with their StoryGraph account. That means when you finish a book on your Kobo eReader, it will automatically be marked as “Read” on StoryGraph, keeping your reading stats up-to-date. The feature will work with both e-books and audiobooks, the companies said, and it works with any Kobo device and Kobo’s apps.
StoryGraph 与 Kobo 的集成改变了这一现状，它现在可以自动将用户的阅读进度同步到其 StoryGraph 账户中。这意味着当你在 Kobo 电子阅读器上读完一本书时，它会自动在 StoryGraph 上被标记为“已读”，从而保持你的阅读统计数据实时更新。两家公司表示，该功能适用于电子书和有声读物，并支持所有 Kobo 设备及 Kobo 应用程序。
Book trackers like StoryGraph are popular because they offer an easy way for people to keep a record of their reading history and favorite books, and offer ways to discover recommendations based on what others are reading. As StoryGraph’s name implies, its analytics tend to go deeper, offering readers detailed charts about their reading moods, pace, and more, to improve reading habits. It also offers an online community where you can participate in reading challenges and join book clubs, while staying motivated to read by earning “streaks.” (Typically, we don’t like addictive gamification measures in social apps, but for encouraging reading, we’ll make an exception.)
像 StoryGraph 这样的阅读追踪工具之所以受欢迎，是因为它们为人们记录阅读历史和喜爱书籍提供了一种简便方式，并能根据他人的阅读内容提供推荐。正如 StoryGraph 的名字所暗示的那样，其分析功能往往更深入，为读者提供关于阅读情绪、进度等方面的详细图表，以帮助改善阅读习惯。它还提供了一个在线社区，你可以在其中参与阅读挑战、加入读书俱乐部，并通过获得“连读记录”（streaks）来保持阅读动力。（通常我们不喜欢社交应用中令人上瘾的游戏化手段，但为了鼓励阅读，我们可以破例。）
Founded by Black British engineer Nadia Odunayo and CTO Rob Frelow in 2019, StoryGraph began as a side project and didn’t take in outside funding. It has since evolved into a community of over 5 million readers. The Kobo integration will now put the app in front of the e-reader maker’s 12 million users in 190 countries.
StoryGraph 由英国黑人工程师 Nadia Odunayo 和首席技术官 Rob Frelow 于 2019 年创立，最初只是一个副业项目，并未接受外部融资。此后，它已发展成为拥有超过 500 万读者的社区。此次与 Kobo 的集成将使该应用触达这家电子阅读器制造商在全球 190 个国家的 1200 万用户。
Kobo and StoryGraph aren’t alone in capitalizing on the cultural revival of reading, driven by online communities like #booktok and reading apps. According to Pew Research, around three in 10 U.S. adults (31%) reported reading an e-book in the past year, up from 2011年的 17%。The startup Everand, which offers a marketplace for e-books and audiobooks, also recently bought the digital book community app maker Fable to offer a similar integration — without the hardware. (Perhaps Kobo could be eyeing StoryGraph for its own M&A in the future?)
在 #booktok 等在线社区和阅读应用的推动下，阅读文化正在复兴，Kobo 和 StoryGraph 并非唯一从中获益的公司。根据皮尤研究中心的数据，约有 31% 的美国成年人在过去一年中阅读过电子书，高于 2011 年的 17%。提供电子书和有声读物市场的初创公司 Everand 最近也收购了数字图书社区应用开发商 Fable，旨在提供类似的集成功能——尽管没有硬件支持。（也许 Kobo 未来会考虑将 StoryGraph 纳入其并购目标？）
The new Kobo-StoryGraph integration doesn’t require a subscription, though the StoryGraph app does offer a $5 per month Plus subscription that adds deeper stats, filters, custom charts, and comparison tools.
新的 Kobo-StoryGraph 集成功能无需订阅即可使用，不过 StoryGraph 应用确实提供每月 5 美元的 Plus 订阅服务，可解锁更深入的统计数据、筛选器、自定义图表和对比工具。