Amazon Confirms That Kindle Owners Will Soon Be Able To Lend One Another E-Books

Amazon has announced that Kindle reader users will soon be able to lend Kindle books to other Kindle owners. The exact date is still to be confirmed – but it should be before the end of the year.

It’s a very positive move which will help both e-books and e-book readers to become even more widely accepted. The reading public seem to have become accustomed to e-books in a very short time. According to Amazon, e-books are now outselling traditional hardback books – by a factor of 180 to 100. It seems probable that e-books will be outselling paperback editions before too much longer.

The new Amazon lending scheme will allow Kindle books to be lent for a two week period. Whilst the book is “on loan” the borrower will be able to access it in exactly the same manner as if they had actually bought it. The original purchase won’t be able to access the book for the duration of the loan period. Pretty much the same as lending a “real” book to someone in fact.

Amazon has released a number of free Kindle apps which allow Kindle books to be read on other devices. At the moment, there are apps for the Windows PC, the Apple Mac, the iPhone, the iPad, the Blackberry smartphone and any device which runs the Android operating system. At first glance it may appear a little odd that Amazon has gone out of its way to make their best selling Kindle reader redundant in this way. Currently, 20% of all Kindle book sales are made via non-Kindle devices. As an ever growing number of devices using Android are released onto the market, it seems likely that this percentage is likely to grow.

Up until now, these free Kindle apps have worked only with Kindle books. Amazon will now make both newspapers and magazines available using Kindle apps. Again, the release date is yet to be confirmed – but Amazon has advised that they plan to start with the Apple devices and follow up with the Android devices and then the desktop applications in due course.

These changes may seem relatively minor. However, they bring e-books closer into line with the functionality of conventional books, which is psychologically important for anyone making a buying decision. Kindle readers can now do everything with an e-book that they would with a printed book – apart from marking their place with a dog-ear that is. It makes it easier for even the most conservative book lover to make the transition to electronic books.