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Barnes & Noble has been marketing their lending feature as a competitive advantage over Amazon and the Kindle.
Amazon's new strategy of offering exactly the same lending policy levels the playing field with limited risk. It's an safe business move. They don't stand to lose much and they do stand to gain users who would otherwise be swayed to the Nook by the lending function.
It does, however, strike me as not true to Amazon's stated goal of being the "the most customer driven company in the world." This is a "me too/play it safe" feature not a "market leader" one.
If B&N wants to complete, they're forced to ante up and offer more flexible lending policies. If they don't, they'll be laughed at like a car company trying to hype their vehicles "because they have fuel injection." Duh. So does every other vehicle.
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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