# Have you seen this announcement from Amazon?!



## ZsuZsu (Dec 27, 2009)

New features coming soon- the first one is about the ability to read periodicals on different devices- I know that is going to be exciting for alot of people!
The second feature is the one that I really think is going to make people do happy dances!  Here's the info from the announcement:

Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.


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## Emmalita (Feb 24, 2009)

This is really exciting!  Where did you see that?


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## ZsuZsu (Dec 27, 2009)

Sorry! In my excitement, I forgot the link!! It's on the Amazon Kindle Discussion forom

http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=sv_kinc_6


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

This is very, very exciting. One of the things I like about the nook is the LendMe feature. I've gotten several books that way this past month. Yes, it's only one time, and yes it's only for 14 days.. But there are a LOT of us that have had Kindles for quite awhile and have large libraries built up that are just sitting here waiting to share... <grin>


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## JenniferBecton (Oct 21, 2010)

That's great news. I love the idea of being able to lend, just like I can an actual paperback. And then I don't have the hassle of having to ask for the book back. It happens automatically!


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Although its not something I will use, its great for those that want too. I don't have any friends with Kindle, heck, most of my friends don't read at all  . 
And assuming one has to share the amazon email with those to lend too or from, it would have to be friends


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## RobertMarda (Oct 19, 2010)

I like the lend feature.  That was one of the things that bugged me as I was considering buying an e-reader.  If I want to I can lend a book in print to anyone I want so why not an e-book?  I like this concept because then I don't have to remember to ask for the book back with the lend feature it comes back automatically.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Atunah said:


> Although its not something I will use, its great for those that want too. I don't have any friends with Kindle, heck, most of my friends don't read at all .
> And assuming one has to share the amazon email with those to lend too or from, it would have to be friends


You have lots of friends with Kindles... Kindle Boards!!!

For the nook, there is a facebook group where you list your books that you have available to lend and then somebody PM's you with their email address when they want it. You then lend the book to them. It's actually very easy. They also have a forum set up on nookboards for it.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I can understand allowing publishers to decide (the creatures).  And I can understand limiting the number of times a book can be borrowed to prevent huge lending library co-ops from springing up.  But, (and there's always a 'but') loaning a book one time in the history of ever is a bit strict.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Luvmy4brats said:


> You have lots of friends with Kindles... Kindle Boards!!!
> 
> For the nook, there is a facebook group where you list your books that you have available to lend and then somebody PM's you with their email address when they want it. You then lend the book to them. It's actually very easy. They also have a forum set up on nookboards for it.


Yes true, but if its set up so that in order to lend from someone, you have to email them your amazon email, it won't work for me. I don't like to give out that email. Don't see any other way for them to do it though. If they could allow adding on to the account a different email for that purpose it would be great. But I don't give out my amazon email. You just never know.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Atunah said:


> Yes true, but if its set up so that in order to lend from someone, you have to email them your amazon email, it won't work for me. I don't like to give out that email. Don't see any other way for them to do it though. If they could allow adding on to the account a different email for that purpose it would be great. But I don't give out my amazon email. You just never know.


I guess we're going to have to wait and see how they implement it. Do you have a separate email for your Amazon account? I just use my regular email address (or are you talking about the one for your Kindle? I don't think they'd use those, since those are tied to a specific Kindle)


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I am not worried about the email for the Kindle as that one can be changed at any time, its the amazon email that concerns me, thats my main email, I don't give that one out.

Now if they want to use the kindle email, that would work as you can't get spam on it and if needed it can always be changed. 

We will have to wait and see how they set this up.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

You can always change the email on your Amazon account... set up [email protected] (or something like that) and make that your Amazon login.. Then nobody would get your main account.. then set Gmail up to forward the emails you get on that account to your main one... (or just forward certain ones)

I do this and it works great...


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## Gingy (Oct 15, 2010)

This is WONDERFUL news.  Unfortunately for me I don't know any other Kindle owners.  

Maybe Kindle boards members can exchange with one another (I'm a newbie here, still finding my way around) so pardon me if that's already been addressed.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

ZsuZsu said:


> Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.


Finally! I might now push my mom a little harder to get a Kindle so I can lend her books. I'm disappointed they stuck to the Nook's precedence of a 14 day limit and only one lend per book though - some people don't have the time to finish a book in that period, especially a long one and would it really be a disaster to let someone share it to 2 or 3 people instead of one? I'm sure the publishers were behind that but this is part of my love/hate relationship with publishers.


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## Gingy (Oct 15, 2010)

Luvmy4brats said:


> You have lots of friends with Kindles... Kindle Boards!!!


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

This is great news! But I wish they weren't so restrictive with the policy. As a writer, I'd like to have more control over how many times my books can be "lent" and for how long.

Even so, this is a step in the right direction.

Sandy


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

ZsuZsu said:


> New features coming soon- the first one is about the ability to read periodicals on different devices- I know that is going to be exciting for alot of people!
> The second feature is the one that I really think is going to make people do happy dances! Here's the info from the announcement:
> 
> Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.


Wow! That is awesome news!


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

history_lover said:


> Finally! I might now push my mom a little harder to get a Kindle so I can lend her books.


You realize that since it's your mom (and so you presumably trust her), you could both be on the same kindle account and share all your books, with no limits, right?

On another note, I wonder how the periodicals change will affect multiple kindles on one account. For example, let's say two people (A and B) are on the account, and each has a kindle and an iPhone, so you've got kindleA kindleB iPhoneA and iPhoneB. Person A subscribes to the New York Times and wants to read it on iPhone A and kindleA. Person B subscribes to Time and wants to read it on iPhoneB and kindleB. Right now, a subscription only goes to one kindle - you can't share a subscription, even with another kindle that is on your account. So I wonder how all this will work. Guess we'll fine out!


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## RiddleMeThis (Sep 15, 2009)

This is AWESOME!! And could be even more awesome for the Quasi Official Book Game!


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## ScottB (Aug 25, 2010)

I think we should add a new board just for this feature. I don't know anyone else that has a Kindle  I'd love to share some of the books I have brought with you guys.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

RiddleMeThis said:


> This is AWESOME!! And could be even more awesome for the Quasi Official Book Game!


That was one of my first thoughts! Wouldn't that be awesome?



ScottB said:


> I think we should add a new board just for this feature. I don't know anyone else that has a Kindle  I'd love to share some of the books I have brought with you guys.


I'm all for that. I already told Harvey that we should consider it... I think it's a fantastic idea. (nookboards has one and there's a facebook group for sharing nook books.. both are pretty popular)


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## bobavey (Sep 14, 2010)

I believe we will see more of this type of policy as time passes.


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## Violet (Jun 17, 2010)

This is great though I wish the 14 days was longer.  I imagine 14 was easiest to get because it's the same as what Nook allows.  But 14 days would be a bit short for me to read a book - since I work all day my only time to read is between dinner and bedtime, and some nights I do things other than read. 

I think Nook also allows long-term lending now as long as you trust the borrower with your credit card number.  That would actually work better for me once I convince my father-in-law (who has macular degeneration) to get a Kindle.  I doubt he can read any book in 14 days.


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## Cyanide5000 (Aug 30, 2010)

I like and hate at the same time that you can "lend" your book, whilst your friend has it you cant use it, but come on for gods sake we live in the digital era, this should not be a restriction, i think they have turned a great idea into something a bit rubbish.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I think that is awesome news! I know I would love to share books. I am guessing even if the person doesn't have a Kindle you could still share through Kindle for PC?


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## Tom Diego (Jun 30, 2010)

Violet said:


> This is great though I wish the 14 days was longer. I imagine 14 was easiest to get because it's the same as what Nook allows. But 14 days would be a bit short for me to read a book...


Well, the whole point is to sell books. If books are lent for 14 days and the lendee doesn't finish it within those 14 days, depending on how far they got and pulled into the story, it's likely they're going to buy it to finish it. That's probably why it isn't 30 days. On the other hand, for the same reason, I don't understand why it's a one-time thing. If you loan an e-book to three people and two of them don't finish it within 14 days, that could be two more book sales rather than just the one possible with one-time lending.


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## Tom Diego (Jun 30, 2010)

MLPMom said:


> I think that is awesome news! I know I would love to share books. I am guessing even if the person doesn't have a Kindle you could still share through Kindle for PC?


Not all Kindle features are available on Kindle for PC or other Kindle apps. But in opening up the newspaper and magazine subscriptions to multiple devices they are probably going to issue a new release of Kindle for PC. So maybe yes, maybe no.


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## Tom Diego (Jun 30, 2010)

Cyanide5000 said:


> I like and hate at the same time that you can "lend" your book, whilst your friend has it you cant use it, but come on for gods sake we live in the digital era, this should not be a restriction, i think they have turned a great idea into something a bit rubbish.


Borland Software, probably known best for it's Turbo Pascal program, had an interesting use policy. This was before the type of verification that we have now with way-too-many-digit keys and certainly long before real-time authentication and verification over the Internet and most software just went by the honor policy. Borland's policy stated simply, and I paraphrase, "Use this software like a book. You can install it on as many computers and as many times as you want, but two people can't use it at the same time." That always seemed pretty fair to me, particularly if you bought a new computer and wanted to use the software on the new computer. Or if the old computer crashed and there was no way to unregister the software.

You can't loan a physical book to more than one person at a time and you can't read it while it's lent, so I think that this is a fair policy. Remember, it's all about selling books, not giving away one book multiple times, which you can't do with physical books.


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## kb7uen Gene (Mar 13, 2009)

I hope this leads to library lending in the future.  Also, could we see a new KB section for games?

Gene


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## Linda S. Prather Author (Jun 25, 2010)

Truly a great idea.  Families who read similar books will truly love it.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

vermontcathy said:


> You realize that since it's your mom (and so you presumably trust her), you could both be on the same kindle account and share all your books, with no limits, right?


And since she's my mom, there are certain books on my account I'd rather she not see. I'm close with my mom but I still need my privacy.


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## eidahl (Oct 16, 2009)

XD


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## Skydog (Mar 16, 2009)

I find the lending announcement to be a disappointment. <yawn> They've simply followed B&N instead of being a leader and offering something better. OTOH, being able to read one's periodicals on multiple devices is a good move.


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## Steph H (Oct 28, 2008)

While I agree that the lending announcement is of only minor interest to me at the moment, it could be that publishers aren't allowing them to do anything more innovative than what B&N already did. Hard to blame them without knowing all the behind-the-scenes details.

I do think, though, with the kind of KB-lending setup that we could have here on the boards, I might be more interested in the lending feature than I had otherwise thought possible.  A book I'm only sort-of interested in that someone else has available could be worth borrowing rather than buying (and I could certainly later buy it if I found it better than expected and worth re-reading, which I do a lot of), and lord knows I have hundreds of books to offer in return.


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## unknown2cherubim (Sep 10, 2010)

This is worth celebration.  Only one time, maybe, but baby steps are good.


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## Joe Chiappetta (May 20, 2010)

This is a nice step forward for all the fast readers out there. Plus it is shrewd on Amazons part. They are keeping up with the competition.


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

I understand the restriction on number of times you can lend, but only one time, ever?  Why couldn't be be something like 2 or 3 times per year.  Even if it was once per year, you would know that that would reset at at least SOME point rather than one and done forever and ever.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Yeah, with really popular books I can see that being a slight issue. You got 2 good friends and they both want it, so you have to pick  . "I thought I was your bestest friend evah"


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

vermontcathy said:


> You realize that since it's your mom (and so you presumably trust her), you could both be on the same kindle account and share all your books, with no limits, right?
> 
> On another note, I wonder how the periodicals change will affect multiple kindles on one account. For example, let's say two people (A and B) are on the account, and each has a kindle and an iPhone, so you've got kindleA kindleB iPhoneA and iPhoneB. Person A subscribes to the New York Times and wants to read it on iPhone A and kindleA. Person B subscribes to Time and wants to read it on iPhoneB and kindleB. Right now, a subscription only goes to one kindle - you can't share a subscription, even with another kindle that is on your account. So I wonder how all this will work. Guess we'll fine out!


The way they worded it makes it sound as though you can read one version on multiple devices.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

This is big news!  I've already written my friend Bob and asked him if I can borrow his Dresden Files books!


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## meeko350 (Aug 25, 2010)

But what if you loan your books to someone you don't know, and then your bestie finally gets a kindle, and you've already loaned your books. One time EVER is way too restrictive.  Once or twice a year sounds much better.

I wonder if this will entice hackers to start copying books just to loan them.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

meeko350 said:


> But what if you loan your books to someone you don't know, and then your bestie finally gets a kindle, and you've already loaned your books. One time EVER is way too restrictive. Once or twice a year sounds much better.
> 
> I wonder if this will entice hackers to start copying books just to loan them.


Well, if you trust the Bestie, then you just put her on your account and she has access to all of your books anyway. If Amazon does it the wayB&n does it, they take care of the work and keep track on if it's been leant or not. Hackers won't be copying books just to lend them

As you can see, I'm pretty excited about this because ive been using this feature quite a bit with my nook


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Luvmy4brats said:


> You have lots of friends with Kindles... Kindle Boards!!!
> 
> For the nook, there is a facebook group where you list your books that you have available to lend and then somebody PM's you with their email address when they want it. You then lend the book to them. It's actually very easy. They also have a forum set up on nookboards for it.


I was gonna say - time to get that new forum set up - the Lending Library. Or whatever. I suspect it'll be VERY busy!


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## meeko350 (Aug 25, 2010)

Does Nook only allow one lend per book also?


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

Skydog said:


> I find the lending announcement to be a disappointment. <yawn> They've simply followed B&N instead of being a leader and offering something better. OTOH, being able to read one's periodicals on multiple devices is a good move.


I suspect the publishers are the ones who actually drive the policy - otherwise Amazon would've probably made some type of change.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

meeko350 said:


> Does Nook only allow one lend per book also?


Yep - it's basically the same policy as Amazon will have. One lend per book, 14 days, and you can't access it while it's being lent. And only if the publisher allows lending.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Meemo said:


> I was gonna say - time to get that new forum set up - the Lending Library. Or whatever. I suspect it'll be VERY busy!


Trust me, I've already but the bug in his ear...

I'm also working on my goodreads account to get all my Kindle books in. Once we find out for certain which books are lendable, I can move them to a kindle books to lend shelf and point people to my v goodreads profile.


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## CaroleC (Apr 19, 2010)

This is great news!

I just want to lend books back and forth with my boyfriend/SO. We have been dating for over a decade so I trust him with my credit card and Amazon account, but he has his Kindle on his own account in order to pay for his own books.

Naturally the ideal setup would have been if I could lend him one book at a time, for an infinite period of time so he could read at any pace and not worry about finishing in two weeks. But this is almost as good. Looking forward to seeing this implemented!


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## unknown2cherubim (Sep 10, 2010)

Luvmy4brats said:


> Trust me, I've already but the bug in his ear...


+2

I don't know how often I'll borrow books but I'm interested in lending them. One reason I quit borrowing as many library book as I used to was once I could afford to buy books, I liked not feeling the pressure to have to get them in by a certain date.


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## fancynancy (Aug 9, 2009)

I think it will be a very nice addition.  I have a friend who devours books.  She reads at least one book per week, and usually more on her Kindle.  That can get pretty expensive.  Now I can lend her books.  I, on the other hand, take at least a month to read a book, so I don't spend as much, and won't use the feature much because it's not enough time for me (unless I'm on vacation).  I think it works out very well because it gives a break to those who spend the most on books.


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## cc1013 (Jul 31, 2009)

I wonder if the new lending feature will be limited to K3s or if the older versions will also get it.  Any thoughts?


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## cjottawa (Oct 22, 2010)

Geoffrey said:


> I can understand allowing publishers to decide (the creatures). And I can understand limiting the number of times a book can be borrowed to prevent huge lending library co-ops from springing up. But, (and there's always a 'but') loaning a book one time in the history of ever is a bit strict.


B&N has been marketing their lending feature as competitive advantage over Amazon and the Kindle.

Amazon's strategy levels the playing field with limited risk to themselves.

It's an excellent business move though not one that really supports Amazon's stated goal of being the "the most customer driven company in the world."

If B&N wants to complete, they're forced to ante up and offer more flexible lending policies.

There may be other issues at play such as publishers licensing rules prohibiting loans exceeding 14-days and the one time limit.

Time and market pressure will tell.


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## metal134 (Sep 2, 2010)

If Amazon ever decides to support ePub or libraires ever decide to support mobi (or especially, both), Nook won't stand a chance.  And that's unfortunate.  I am not a Nook owner, but if Amazon ends up monoploizing the market, that's bad.


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## kb7uen Gene (Mar 13, 2009)

This announcement could be a possible hint to the future of what Amazon might do in terms of trying to keep up with the Nook and other Ebook readers.  We could finally see epub and the other formats which allow us to take advantage of library lending.

I think unlimited lending should be made available to the troops, and all the other terms of the current arrangement would be the same.  For the troops, who are basically on call twenty four hours a day regardless of whether it is their day off or not really deserve something like this being made available to them.  I would hope the publishers would recognize the importance of what they do, but that might be a pipedream on my part.

Gene


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

metal134 said:


> If Amazon ever decides to support ePub or libraires ever decide to support mobi (or especially, both), Nook won't stand a chance. And that's unfortunate. I am not a Nook owner, but if Amazon ends up monoploizing the market, that's bad.


Some libraries do support mobi, but with a different DRM scheme than Amazon uses which is why you can't borrow for the Kindle.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

unknown2cherubim said:


> +2
> 
> I don't know how often I'll borrow books but I'm interested in lending them. One reason I quit borrowing as many library book as I used to was once I could afford to buy books, I liked not feeling the pressure to have to get them in by a certain date.


There are some books that wouldn't work for me for a 2-week lend. For example: I'm hoping I finish *Fall of Giants* tomorrow, it's a library book that turns into a pumpkin in 22 hours - in fact I should be reading right now! I think it might stay on my nook longer as long as I don't go "out" of the book, but I'm just not sure. Besides, I have another library book already loaded that I'll have only about a week to finish but it should be a quick read. Shorter books, though, I can finish in less than a week. So I'd be careful which books I tried to borrow with a 2 week lending period.


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## JennaAnderson (Dec 25, 2009)

ZsuZsu said:


> Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users.


I have sooooo many books in my TBR pile that I can't imagine wanting to borrow more.


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

ZsuZsu said:


> Second, later this year, we will be introducing lending for Kindle, a new feature that lets you loan your Kindle books to other Kindle device or Kindle app users. Each book can be lent once for a loan period of 14-days and the lender cannot read the book during the loan period. Additionally, not all e-books will be lendable - this is solely up to the publisher or rights holder, who determines which titles are enabled for lending.


I'm especially excited about this feature! YAY!! It's the one Nook feature I sorely wished the Kindle had. Hopefully they'll remove the 1-time limit eventually (or make it a higher number, like 5).


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

Sounds exciting to me. I'd like to borrow the medical nonfiction book that my father purchased, for the tidbits of info. that I might be interested in. If I really liked the book, I'd more likely buy the book, than keep the book on my list of books to read, which is a very long list.


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

kcmay said:


> I'm especially excited about this feature! YAY!! It's the one Nook feature I sorely wished the Kindle had. Hopefully they'll remove the 1-time limit eventually (or make it a higher number, like 5).


I can see publishers not wanting you to keep lending the same book to one person, that could lose a sale, but limiting my loan to just once? I questioned that when I saw B&N's loan policy. I have a friend with a Nook and is willing to loan me books for my Nook app but really, I don't know if I could finish a title in a 2 week period. At least, not what he and I typically read.


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## Terrence OBrien (Oct 21, 2010)

I suspect the 14 day period and restriction to one loan per book are because Amazon doesn't know what will happen. This is just as new to them as it is to the rest of us. They are going to watch sales vs loans, track what books get loaned, contrast loanable books to non-loanable books, etc. They can always make things looser, but it's really hard to tighten them up once they are in place.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

Given how easy it is to loan an ebook, even over long distances, the "loan once' policy makes sense.

Publishers do not want to see a person buy a book, then to loan it to dozens of people over the next year via an internet forum.

The shipping cost, and wear and tear, prevents this from happening with a physical book.


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## Ade (Nov 11, 2010)

Tom Diego said:


> If you loan an e-book to three people and two of them don't finish it within 14 days, that could be two more book sales rather than just the one possible with one-time lending.


Great point! Hopefully in time we will see multiple loans made available. It could easily be still restricted to one loan of an ebook to one account, just allow loaning to more than one account.


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## sabinfire (Nov 11, 2010)

Great concept (and one I hope continues to evolve in its implementation), but 14 days is too short a time-limit for reading a book.  Some shorter books it might work with, same if you're a hardcore reader with time on your hands, but for most people I don't think this would work out too well.


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