Ask HN: Do you find apps like Binklist and Scribd useful?

I'd been recently introduced to Binkist and think it's great. For the uninitiated, Binkist (and a similar app called Scribd), take popular books off the retail shelf, and condense their 200+ pages into an 8 - 15 page summary.

The summaries are good, and are often accompanied by audio transcripts, but what do others make of these apps? Do you find it a good way to learn? Or do you think it's perhaps diluting the true benefit of reading the books themselves?