Amazon has announced plans to make e-books rentable. Yup, just like library books. Although I'll always hold a special place in my heart for bound books and a shelf to display my well loved collection, e-readers take up less space and resources. They're also more affordable!
Purchasing e-books isn't always pricey, but if you can spend less and still read the latest releases, even better! This new service allows users to access all sorts of reading material, just like you use Netflix streaming. The books are available for a short period of time and then the content rotates.
Will you use Amazon's new service or stick to purchasing full books to read again later on? Share your thoughts below!
• Read More: Amazon To Introduce Book Lending from Inhabitat
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Rent ebooks? I'm not sure. If I'm not going to buy it outright I can usually get it for free from the library. Yes, libraries have ebooks.
Sounds like it's a lending service, not a rental service, included with that Amazon Prime shipping/streaming video deal. If they do that, it would certainly motivate me to shift completely off of netflix and over to their service, which I've been thinking about doing anyway. Even if they did rent the books, if the savings were significant I would consider it. Some books I want to own, but many I'm happy to just read and then let go of.
How about Amazon giving e-books to libraries so they won't have to purchase them? That would be a great PR move.
It's true that e-books are now free from public libraries but there's a big push from publishers to limit libraries' continued access, i.e. libraries would not be able to buy one copy and loan infinite copies but would have to somehow pay for the multiple copies, obviously making the loaning of ebooks prohibitie
It's a fairly serious debate right now and unfortunately it's big publishers against underfunded municipalities.
Since this comes with Amazon Prime (SO worth every penny if you buy a lot online) I think this idea is awesome.
I'm confused, does your library rent books?
Has this been confirmed by Amazon yet? All I see is the rumors.
I buy e-books from Amazon now, so I will definitely use the rental service.
I do borrow eBooks from my public library, but like many city dwellers, I have to wait a VERY long time for each title. I am still waiting for titles from March, and most of the time, for non-bestsellers, the average wait is at least 3 or so months, if the title is even available. All this to say, I do hope Amazon launches an eBook rental service soon.