Amazon Introducing Library Lending to Kindle

Here’s a nicely written, detailed piece from the LA Times about Amazon’s plans to make Kindle books “loanable” through public libraries.

The inability to borrow Kindle books from the local library has kept several of my friends from purchasing Kindles, opting to buy a Barnes & Noble Nook instead (much to my dismay and their ultimate disappointment).

Now, with Borders in bankruptcy and the future of conventional booksellers in question, Amazon (the world’s largest online retailer) has stepped up to the plate, listened to customer demand, and is in the process of creating a library lending program.

Go Amazon!

E-Book Sales Top Paperbacks For First Time

On April 15, 2011, CNN Money reported that sales of E-books outpaced those of paperbacks for the first time.

The growth of e-books is stunning; sales rose 202% from February 2010 to February 2011, and Amazon reported in January 2011 that its sales of e-books surpassed those of paperbacks.

Good news for trees, writers, and Amazon. Bad news for traditional book publishers and traditional book stores.

The PACE of the shift is what is so stunning to analysts. And this pace spells doom to bookstores who are unable to accept this new reality and make quick and nimble adjustments to their business model. The world has fundamentally changed.

Now You Can Loan Your Kindle Books

Amazon’s introduced a new feature for the Kindle (to compete with the Nook?): you can now lend out digital copies of your Kindle books to your friends & family (who else would you lend them to?).

Some restrictions apply. The lending period is 14 days and you can’t read your book while it’s on loan.

Here’s a great blog post that gives a good quick summary of the details:

MSNBC TechnoLog.

And here’s a link to Amazon’s info page about Kindle lending.

Happy Kindling!