Last week, Amazon finally learned that crucial lesson that the rest of the world learned in kindergarten: sharing is good for us. For the first time in Kindle's short history, Kindle users will finally be allowed to share their purchases with friends. The lending options will be available "later this year," according to Amazon's announcement.
The sharing comes with a few catches, of course - books can only be lent for a period of 14 days (which, if you're as bad at planning reading choices as I am, could prove problematic), and the owner cannot access the book while it is lent out. Of course, the counterargument to those who protest this last restriction is simple: you can't access a paper book that you've lent to your friend, either, unless you kept photocopies of it on your shelf in the meantime?
Amazon will let publishers (or rights-holders, as the case may be) choose whether or not to participate in the sharing program.
It appears that the details of the lending program are still fuzzy. Case in point: will lending be available to any Kindle App users, across platforms, or just other Kindle users? I'm also unclear on whether or not sharing options will be made clear to buyers before purchasing - has anyone heard more about this?
Read the original announcement or the TechCrunch article for more information.
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