The Amazon promise
In October of 2010, Amazon promised to update its systems to facilitate the lending of e-books over its Amazon kindle platform. In December of the same year, they delivered on the much anticipated e-book lending policy. The original terms of lending meant that you could only lend out specific, publisher-authorized, eBooks and only for 14 days at that. This facility resembled that of Barnes & Noble, where their competitor, the Nook, had launched a comparable facility. Though the facility is mainly available in the US, these eBooks can be lent across other platforms on the iPhone, BlackBerry, Apple Mac and the PC.
To take this promise a step further and match the age old habit of sharing hard copy books amongst avid book readers, Amazon Kindle Book Sharing has gone a step further and come up with a way of sharing a select group of eBooks among Kindle users. This facility not only enables owners of the Amazon Kindle to share eBooks, but anyone with access to an e-reader, available on a PC, tablet or Smartphone, can access and share their e-library by giving access to their ‘Cloud Reader’ library located on the World Wide Web.
Kindle eBooks that are available for sharing.
The Kindle Store is a very good place to start for one to find out whether a particular Kindle eBook is available for sharing. The ‘Product Details’, on the books webpage, in the Kindle Store, provides an interested buyer with an indication of ‘Lending: Enabled’ for those books that can be lent and shared, those that are not eligible do not carry this option.
For books that have already been purchased, a registered Amazon member needs to log in to their Amazon account, on the Amazon website, access the ‘Manage Your Kindle’ option that is available in the Kindle Store. From the list that appears, showing content you have purchased, locate and choose the ‘Actions’ option on the right side of the page. If eligible for sharing, a ‘Loan this Title’ option will appear, giving you a chance to begin the sharing process. If you intend to loan this book, click this option, and the page that follows enables you to fill out the details of the person you intend to lend the book. Follow the instructions and upon completion, a notification e-mail is sent to your chosen recipient.
Another method that is available for sharing is actually simpler and involves accessing a particular books webpage via the Kindle Store, where a yellow bar across the top of the page indicates that you have already purchased it. An option is available on the same page to “Loan this book” which, upon selection, brings up a page that contains fields to be filled up with the details of the person you intend to lend the eBook. Making sure you enter the details as that person has registered with Amazon Store, send the completed form and they will be notified via the valid e-mail that you have provided.
Hurdles to jump
The latest development, that helps overcome existing impediments, requires a person to register a second Amazon Kindle eBook Reader under the first account. There is the added option of registering another Amazon Kindle eBook reader under the same account and whenever you purchase an eBook, you get to choose where to download it. This, as well as the ability to share your eBook Reader Library allows those registered under the same account to share their Amazon Kindle eBook Reader Library contents. Downloads are not sent to the other Amazon Kindle eBook reader right away but you can share the same in the eBook Reader library by use of the content manager.
With ongoing improvements Amazon Kindle continues to review and improve on customer concerns that improve on the eBook reading experience that has grown in leaps and bounds, offering a noteworthy level of competition to its paperback counterpart.