I love ebooks. I primarily read digital formats. But there are a couple of things I miss about physical books. One of them is the ability to give books to friends and family. Of course you can give a Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card. Or you can ‘gift’ books using an email address on Amazon.
But Livrada has new idea. They are physical gift cards that are for a specific book that can be redeemed for either Amazon Kindle or Nook books.
Right now they are exclusively sold at Target in the electronics section near ebook readers.
This is a good idea. The cards have the cover of the book and the back has the description similar to the back cover of a paperback.
The major problem with these are that they will be naturally limited in the number of books that will be carried at any particular Target. I think it is unlikely that any store will carry more than 50-100 books at a time. So it is mostly going to be the best sellers (think an airport book store, not a full Barnes and Noble).
The other problem is the problem of giving books in the first place. Unless you know the person fairly well, you do not know if the person wants to read that book, or if they already own it.
One of my favorite things to do is buy other people books that I think they will love. So I can see myself using Livrada.
Check them out at the next you go to Target or at their web page. You can also ‘Like’ their facebook page where they are now giving away some of the gift cards.