Lending Feature

Lynn in Ohio · 12-08-2010, 08:09 AM

When is the lending feature going to come? The amazon website says later this year. Not much of that left. I see lots of potential for groups putting together shared libraries. Will you be able to lend the same book to the same Kindle more than once?

Barty · 12-08-2010, 09:56 AM

No, you're allowed to lend a book ONCE for its entire lifetime, for 14 days..

Lynn in Ohio · 12-08-2010, 01:03 PM

You mean I can't lend the same book once to x and once to y etc? That makes no sense. Is it in place now? How do you do it?

Barty · 12-08-2010, 08:26 PM

That's correct. You obviously missed the thread in which people bemoaned the lameness of the lending feature.

Lynn in Ohio · 12-11-2010, 11:07 AM

Lame though it may be, it's not in effect yet, right? Is it known when it will be? I don't see what their reasoning is on a book only being loaned once. Why not emulate a hard copy book and say it can only be read by one device at a time. If you lend it, it is off your device until it is returned. I know I have borrowed a lot of hard copy books only to decide I wanted my own copy. They seem to think it would hurt sales but I doubt that.

DMSmillie · 12-11-2010, 03:19 PM

I don't believe any date for the introduction of lending has been announced yet, Lynn.

I guess they're worried that, if they allow ebooks to be loaned out more than once, there'll be a load of people who'll set up large "sharing groups" to lend their ebooks around. I've seen enough people talking about doing that until they realise each book can only be loaned once.

Thing is, with a physical book, there's at least some physical limit on who you can lend to, unless you're willing to post the book around the world. With an ebook, you could lend it to anyone, anywhere, at no cost. It's not entirely the same.

Even so, for myself, I'd have liked to see a little more flexibility in the proposed scheme - perhaps a limit of 5-10 loans per book.

SkyDream · 12-11-2010, 04:26 PM

The Amazon Kindle Team announced the feature for end of 2010. No date was posted on the Amazon Kindle forum.

Well, that's just a few days left.

tinstaafl · 12-24-2010, 10:19 PM

I would settle for being able to lend it once ever two months (maybe every three months).

I think e-books are where digital music was five years ago and they are still figuring out what the parameters should be. Be reasonable and DRM stripping will not become the problem that the music industry had back then

OtterBooks · 12-24-2010, 11:08 PM

Whatever system is put in place will likely undergo some evolution over time.

Also keep in mind that physical books have material value beyond pure functionality in a way ebooks do not. People like to own books, and many people don't even like to loan them out. Ebooks have comparatively little value beyond the reading experience, so loaning it out effectively provides someone with 100% of ownership value with zero risk of lost value to the owner by way of wear/damage; a situation even more notable if you could loan it to the same person repeatedly. Just some humble theorizin'

susan_cassidy · 12-25-2010, 12:43 AM

I believe that the lending feature is controlled by publishers. If they don't allow it, then the book doesn't have that feature. That's how it works on the Nook. Publishers would not be too thrilled with the ability to lend the book multiple times. I'm surprised they went along with the idea at all.

12-08-2010, 08:09 AM	#1
Lynn in Ohio Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Lending Feature When is the lending feature going to come? The amazon website says later this year. Not much of that left. I see lots of potential for groups putting together shared libraries. Will you be able to lend the same book to the same Kindle more than once?

12-24-2010, 11:08 PM	#9
OtterBooks Wizard Posts: 1,262 Karma: 2979086 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle 4, iPad Mini/Retina	Whatever system is put in place will likely undergo some evolution over time. Also keep in mind that physical books have material value beyond pure functionality in a way ebooks do not. People like to own books, and many people don't even like to loan them out. Ebooks have comparatively little value beyond the reading experience, so loaning it out effectively provides someone with 100% of ownership value with zero risk of lost value to the owner by way of wear/damage; a situation even more notable if you could loan it to the same person repeatedly. Just some humble theorizin' Last edited by OtterBooks; 12-24-2010 at 11:34 PM.

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12-08-2010, 09:56 AM	#2
Barty doofus Posts: 2,549 Karma: 13089041 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	No, you're allowed to lend a book ONCE for its entire lifetime, for 14 days..

12-08-2010, 01:03 PM	#3
Lynn in Ohio Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle 3	You mean I can't lend the same book once to x and once to y etc? That makes no sense. Is it in place now? How do you do it?

12-08-2010, 08:26 PM	#4
Barty doofus Posts: 2,549 Karma: 13089041 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	That's correct. You obviously missed the thread in which people bemoaned the lameness of the lending feature.

12-11-2010, 11:07 AM	#5
Lynn in Ohio Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kindle 3	Lame though it may be, it's not in effect yet, right? Is it known when it will be? I don't see what their reasoning is on a book only being loaned once. Why not emulate a hard copy book and say it can only be read by one device at a time. If you lend it, it is off your device until it is returned. I know I have borrowed a lot of hard copy books only to decide I wanted my own copy. They seem to think it would hurt sales but I doubt that.

12-11-2010, 03:19 PM	#6
DMSmillie Enquiring Mind Posts: 562 Karma: 42350 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: London, UK Device: Kindle 3 (WiFi)	I don't believe any date for the introduction of lending has been announced yet, Lynn. I guess they're worried that, if they allow ebooks to be loaned out more than once, there'll be a load of people who'll set up large "sharing groups" to lend their ebooks around. I've seen enough people talking about doing that until they realise each book can only be loaned once. Thing is, with a physical book, there's at least some physical limit on who you can lend to, unless you're willing to post the book around the world. With an ebook, you could lend it to anyone, anywhere, at no cost. It's not entirely the same. Even so, for myself, I'd have liked to see a little more flexibility in the proposed scheme - perhaps a limit of 5-10 loans per book.

12-11-2010, 04:26 PM	#7
SkyDream Wizard Posts: 1,377 Karma: 9400 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Europe Device: PRS-650, iPod touch 4G, iPad 3	The Amazon Kindle Team announced the feature for end of 2010. No date was posted on the Amazon Kindle forum. Well, that's just a few days left.

12-24-2010, 10:19 PM	#8
tinstaafl Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kindle 2	I would settle for being able to lend it once ever two months (maybe every three months). I think e-books are where digital music was five years ago and they are still figuring out what the parameters should be. Be reasonable and DRM stripping will not become the problem that the music industry had back then

12-25-2010, 12:43 AM	#10
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	I believe that the lending feature is controlled by publishers. If they don't allow it, then the book doesn't have that feature. That's how it works on the Nook. Publishers would not be too thrilled with the ability to lend the book multiple times. I'm surprised they went along with the idea at all.

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