7 Pros + Cons of Blinkist for Book Summaries

I will forever swing back and forth between reading & re-reading excellent works by trusted authors and attempting to read all the things. In theory, a product like Blinkist solves that problem. I can sample and understand lots of books without committing hours to each. I’ve been a customer off and on for years now. Here are a few things I like and don’t like about the service (and competitors).

Pros

Excellent Way To Sample Large Difficult Books

I’ve found Blinkist particularly useful for tackling intimidating books. Even back in college, there was no way that I was just going to dive into something like Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. And even giant biographies I’ve read (like Long Walk to Freedom) would have been better with an overview before reading the whole thing.

The summaries give me enough context to decide whether to invest time in reading the full book. For instance, when I explored Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson through Blinkist I was so intrigued by the core concepts that I immediately purchased the complete book…and did the opposite for his biography on Elon Musk. I also appreciate how complex topics are distilled into digestible sections without oversimplifying the author’s main arguments.

Well-Designed Mobile App

The Blinkist app’s interface is sleek. I can easily navigate between my library highlights and discover new titles. I especially love how the app remembers where I left off in both text and audio versions. The search function is robust letting me filter books by category duration or popularity which has helped me find interesting reads quickly…or “cluster-read” topics.

Saves a Lot of Time Without Loss of Key Points in Books

Each 15-minute summary captures the essential arguments examples and takeaways. This is especially useful for specific categories – like business & self-help where there’s honestly just too much fluff around useful but direct point. There’s a joke that every business book could be a blog post and every blog post could be a tweet.

Love Being Able to Switch from Text to Audio

The seamless integration between text and audio formats is nice, especially when reading while traveling (via walk, bike, bus, car, etc). The audio quality is excellent with professional narrators who maintain engagement. The syncing feature keeps my place across devices so I can start listening on my phone and continue reading on my tablet without missing a beat.

Cons

Shifting Business Model Focused on Social Sharing

I’ve noticed a concerning shift in Blinkist’s focus toward social sharing features at the expense of core reading functionality. The app now frequently prompts me to share highlights and summaries on social media or read even more books via recommendations which interrupts my reading flow.

The introduction of “social reading” features like public highlights and following other users feels forced. While I understand the business logic behind increasing user engagement these additions detract from what initially drew me to the platform: distraction-free learning.

Adding Too Many non-Book Content Types

The platform’s recent expansion into podcasts shorts magazine articles and “shortcasts” has diluted the original book summary focus. I’ve found the quality of these additional content types inconsistent.

The podcast summaries often feel rushed and superficial compared to the book blinks. With over 5000 titles in their library spreading resources across multiple content types appears to impact the quality of their core book summaries. The interface has also become cluttered with these various content formats.

Suspected Use of AI (which is fine, but why pay for Blinkist?)

Throughout my usage I’ve spotted telltale signs of AI-generated content in newer summaries. While AI assistance isn’t inherently negative…the quality varies noticeably from their earlier human-written summaries. The language sometimes feels mechanical and lacks the nuanced interpretation I expect from expert human curators who have actually engaged with the work. I’ve compared several summaries with ChatGPT outputs and found surprisingly similar results….so why pay for Blinkist, unless you are focused on the absolute newest of titles?

Aggressive Growth Model

The platform’s push for rapid growth has led to some concerning developments. I’ve observed a decrease in editorial oversight with more frequent typos and formatting issues appearing in recent summaries.

The pressure to constantly add new titles seems to affect quality control. Premium subscription costs have increased while sales tactics have become more aggressive with constant upsell notifications and limited-time offers. The focus appears to have shifted from providing value to existing users toward acquiring new subscribers at any cost. It’s a typical playbook for any company with venture funding and going up against fierce competition like Shortform, Scribd, etc….but it’s also tiresome.

Tips & Best Use Cases

I’ve found Blinkist works best for:

• Dense business books like “Good to Great” where you need the core concepts but not the fluff
• Science books with complex theories that benefit from simplified explanation
• Self-help titles where actionable takeaways matter most
• Books you’re unsure about purchasing to preview content

Next Steps

A couple of years ago, I felt like Blinkist was an all-in amazing app. It lived on my home screen and felt more useful and less distracting than social or news app. Nowadays, I’m a bit conflicted. I ended up cancelling my upcoming subscription since I’ve mainly been reading older books. But I may come back. Hopefully they will have chilled out with the growth tactics by then and brought back better human curators.

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