Amazon hinted earlier this year that e-book lending would become a reality in the world of Kindle, and the concept has finally come to fruition.
With the Kindle 3 already Amazon's best-selling product, users are being enticed into the e-book lifestyle with their latest Kindle e-book lending scheme.
Owners of e-books can lend their purchases out to anyone you choose, even if they don't have a Kindle. The e-book can be read on any of the Kindle apps for the PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry or Android, but they need to remember that they have 14 days to read it before the loan period ends.
Currently only a selection of e-books can be loaned, due to rights issues and publishers' decisions to opt in to the program, and can be loaned only once every two weeks. In addition, the person lending the book cannot read it while it is loaned to their friend.
Books which are eligible for the scheme will have "Lending: Enabled" showing in their product details.
Currently, the service is only available for Amazon.com, but it's expected to reach other territories early this year. Amazon says, "At this time, Kindle book lending can only be initiated by customers residing in the United States. If a loan is initiated to a customer outside the United States, the borrower may not be able to accept the loan if the title is not available in their country due to publisher geographical rights."
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Posted by Devina Divecha
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