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Ask HN: Anyone Working on Amazon Kindle Loan Website

2 points by noahc 16y ago

Does anyone know of anyone working on this? It appears there will be some limitations, but once its clear that you can lend out a book to anyone for a 14 day period over and over again, I'd think something like this would pop up all over. I'd be willing to pay $25.00 a month to read all the books I could, with that $25.00 going to buy more and more books in kindle format.

brockad 16y ago
Have they changed the restrictions? When they first announced the service, each book could only be lent once.
jonafato 16y ago
My understanding of the kindle lending process currently is that we will only be allowed to lend a book once[1]. Unless they say otherwise, this model would not work. I do think that eventually this will be opened up to work like actual book lending would though. Also, remember that publishers will be able to specify whether or not books are lendable, so this may all be moot anyway. [1] - http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1G2UIO9PJO50V&displayType=tagsDetail http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_...
- noahc 16y ago
  "lent once" as far as I can tell hasn't been defined as "lent once and only once" or "lent once every 14 days" Have you seen any clarification for this?
  - jonafato 16y ago
    If the Nook is any indication of how this will work (and judging by how the game has been played with price drops / wifi versions so far, I think it is) the lending will be "once and only once". The details for the Nook lending feature are here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/container/standard_bothnavs.asp?PID=35677 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/container/standard_bothna... with the relevant answer under FAQ #2. Don't get me wrong; I think some day we will get full lending abilities on these devices, but this will probably be a baby step moment. Publishers probably think that if lending worked like real books, no one would ever buy one, so they will prevent it for now.
mikecane 16y ago
Even if they change it so people can, say, lend each book once a month, how exactly would you set up this site? I don't think anyone would want to sit there typing, for example, 100-200 book titles into a site ... for what payback? To be able to borrow a book from someone else? As someone who does eBooks, I can tell you that's a non-starter for me. Plus, do you understand how many free books are available for the Kindle? And I don't mean public domain stuff, I mean just-published stuff from traditional publishers. I have over 200 of them and don't even own a Kindle yet! [typo edit]

2 points by noahc 16y ago

brockad 16y ago

Have they changed the restrictions? When they first announced the service, each book could only be lent once.

jonafato 16y ago

My understanding of the kindle lending process currently is that we will only be allowed to lend a book once[1]. Unless they say otherwise, this model would not work. I do think that eventually this will be opened up to work like actual book lending would though. Also, remember that publishers will be able to specify whether or not books are lendable, so this may all be moot anyway. [1] - http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=Tx1G2UIO9PJO50V&displayType=tagsDetail http://www.amazon.com/tag/kindle/forum/ref=cm_cd_tfp_ef_tft_...

noahc 16y ago
"lent once" as far as I can tell hasn't been defined as "lent once and only once" or "lent once every 14 days" Have you seen any clarification for this?
- jonafato 16y ago
  If the Nook is any indication of how this will work (and judging by how the game has been played with price drops / wifi versions so far, I think it is) the lending will be "once and only once". The details for the Nook lending feature are here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/container/standard_bothnavs.asp?PID=35677 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/container/standard_bothna... with the relevant answer under FAQ #2. Don't get me wrong; I think some day we will get full lending abilities on these devices, but this will probably be a baby step moment. Publishers probably think that if lending worked like real books, no one would ever buy one, so they will prevent it for now.

mikecane 16y ago

Even if they change it so people can, say, lend each book once a month, how exactly would you set up this site? I don't think anyone would want to sit there typing, for example, 100-200 book titles into a site ... for what payback? To be able to borrow a book from someone else? As someone who does eBooks, I can tell you that's a non-starter for me. Plus, do you understand how many free books are available for the Kindle? And I don't mean public domain stuff, I mean just-published stuff from traditional publishers. I have over 200 of them and don't even own a Kindle yet! [typo edit]