[markerdmann]

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!

[briandh]

> 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]

Google Books is my preferred reading app for just this reason.

[mandlar]

You can upload your own books into Google Books and syncs across devices (mobile/web).

https://play.google.com/books/uploads

[balladeer]

As of now, it really doesn't look like a wise investment in anything Google that is not replaceable e.g. Search.

[purephase]

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]

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.

[hyperbovine]

> 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]

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]

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]

It would be incredible if they would opensource their iOS app at this point.

[logicbox]

Ditto, was/is a beautifully designed application.