The Moscow Metro has unveiled an ambitious new plan to give free eBooks away to riders. This pilot project is only starting at a handful of subway stations and once all of the kinks have been worked out will expand to over 195.
Riders will be able to get free access to Nikolai Gogol’s Nose, Alexander Pushkin’s Egyptian Nights, Anton Chekhov’s About Love, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Mr. Prokharchin by scanning QR codes. The codes will be read on a smartphone or tablet and instantly download the book to your device.
The first few stations to get this service will be Dinamo, Belorussky, and Krasnye Vorota. It will eventually spread to all of the system’s 195 metro stations, and is already available on about 700 of the city’s trams, trolleys, and buses.
The metro system is always going to be unveiling a new WIFI system by the end of the year. This will allow users to not only download the books but also the reading apps necessary to view them.
Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.