With HarperCollins Deal, Scribd Unveils Its Bid to Become the Netflix for Books

The latest company making a bid to bring the subscription model to the book world is one that may already be familiar to TechCrunch readers - social publishing service Scribd. Scribd first launched in 2007, offering users a platform for users to share documents and other written content. We use it ourselves as a way to upload and embed documents that are relevant to our stories. For Scribd, moving into the subscription books business doesn't seem like a huge leap, and several of the most important pieces are already in place.