More on Kindle Lending Library - How it would work. Reactions & Analyses

QUESTIONS AND SOME ANSWERS ABOUT THE COMING KINDLE LENDING PROGRAM

For basic details of the library lending program, see the original announcement, with the more important portions (in my mind) bold-faced.


ZDNet - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes had a larger reaction than seen in most columns, most of which just reported details of the announcement with mild surprise. It begins with  "This is big. Huge. Massive."
Kingsley points out (emphases mine):

' Amazon has built up a massive digital ecosystem, ranging from books and music and audiobooks to streaming movies and Android software, and this move adds another feature to that ever-growing machine.  And best of all for the end user, it’s something that they can take advantage of without having to buy a specific reader since it works with the Kindle app or desktop software.  Amazon is using this to further cement the Amazon brand into people’s minds (and what better way to win over the love of readers than to make it easier to get books from a library?), and establish the Amazon Kindle ebook format as a dominant format, while at the same time showing the competition who’s boss. '

New York Post - Garett Sloane
Garett Sloane at the New York Post reports:

'[For example]...at the New York Public Library, if a member orders an e-book, others wait on a list until that digital version is free again.

That list can get awfully long.  Yesterday, the most popular title at the NYPL was Harlan Coben's mystery novel "Caught," with more than 275 people on the waiting list. '

New York Times - Julie Bosman
Julie Bosman reports that "...the New York Public Library said last month that e-book use in its system was 36 percent higher than it was one year ago."

  As so many have reminded us, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan still don't allow their e-books to be available in libraries, and HarperCollins (Murdoch) would allow use of an e-book only 26 times before it would have to be re-purchased by the libraries.  That hasn't gone over well with librarians.


From the Comments area of the blog entry on Amazon's announcement
  - a statement by an Overdrive manager
Commenters to this blog have pointed us to interesting articles, one of them a post by Overdrive's' manager for content sales, Karen Estrovich (this link often gives a database connection error). On her Overdrive blog, she clarifies for the company's partners how this would work for them. (Emphases mine.)

' The Kindle Library Lending program will integrate into your existing OverDrive-powered ‘Virtual Branch’ website.

Your existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers.

[AB here; Within the context of her statement to Overdrive's partners, this would actually mean "downloadable titles" rather than ebooks in specific format. ]

  As you add new eBooks to your collection, those titles will also be available in Kindle format for lending to Kindle and Kindle reading apps. Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility.  This will work for your existing copies and units.

A user will be able to browse for titles on any desktop or mobile operating system, check out a title with a library card, and then select Kindle as the delivery destination. The borrowed title will then be able to be enjoyed using any Kindle device and all of Amazon’s free Kindle Reading Apps.

The Kindle eBook titles borrowed from a library will carry the same rules and policies as all our other eBooks.

The Kindle Library Lending program will support publishers’ existing lending models.

Your users’ confidential information will be protected.

The Kindle Library Lending program is only available for libraries, schools, and colleges in the United States. '

MY INTERPRETATION of this varies from others' I've seen
Caveat: It's only my interpretation and nothing more, but I think it has a good basis.

' Estrovich is writing to partners who have OverDrive-powered ‘Virtual Branch’ websites for the Overdrive library e-books program.  This is important to an understanding of what she's describing.

The existing collection of a partner's downloadable titles will be available to Kindle customers.

  When the partners add new ebooks to their collections available for loan, those titles will be available in Kindle- and ePUB formats for lending.  No one will have to, to my mind, convert from ePUB to Amazon's mobi format, as some have written -- for the reasons given below.

  This indicates strongly that the titles in Amazon Kindle/mobi format will be available from Amazon's servers directly once the requirements are met for the loan of a title to a Kindle customer.

  It's the only way Amazon would be able to (1) synchronize between the various Kindle/compatible devices and (2) back up annotations for a customer.  This would be done via matching the server's usual Amazon-formatted e-book and the copy on the customer's Kindle.

  The partners' libraries will not need to purchase any additional units as the partners are purchasing TITLES from a publisher via Overdrive, and the partners can decide which format a customer will get, depending on the customer selection of "destination" device.  Again, no conversion would be needed.  Amazon wouldn't be using ePUB-formatted books that are transformed, nor would ePUB books be affected.

  Most important, this would mean the partners' existing copies and units would continue to work, as-is, totally unaffected.

  The reason is that the Kindle ebooks would be handled (and sync'd and backed up) by Amazon servers.  The delivery of the Kindle format books to Kindle customers would not affect the ePub books in the overall collection one iota.  The e-books that Overdrive partners offer will be available in both formats.

 There would still be DRM involved in the library loan but probably Amazon's DRM rather than Adobe's.  I think that Amazon resisted partially because they don't want to pay Adobe for their DRM process when they have their own (and apparently they don't want to switch to ePub).

  This would be a better solution than most had expected. '

An analysis by Mike Cane
Peter Brantley, of Internet Archive --
in his "Reading 2.0" at posterus.com ("Musings on the publishing revolution" -- reposts most of a typically colorful and on-point analysis of the Kindle vs ePub battle by Mike Cane.

Brantley's alert asks "Does kindle library lending obviate the market need for epub as a format?"
and Mike Cane's title is the more provocative: "Kindle Library Lending: ePub Is Dead"



Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   K3 Special, $114   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

Kindle 3 reviews bursting forth today

The Kindle Chronicle's Len Edgerly has a full video review of the Kindle 3, after being able to try it out for 3 days.  This gives a good feel for how more responsive the unit is than the Kindle 2.

Mike Cane tweeted a flurry of pointers to the many reviews.  He also has reactions to Barnes & Noble's Len Riggio telling the world he sees no need to use a Nook, in these words (by Riggio):
  ' “I like to hold the book instead of the device,” he said. “I would rather own multiple books than a single book that carries everything.” '

(I didn't catch the source though.)

 Here are links to a few of the reviews he linked (I have to rush out so I'm using only a few for now and they are choice summary statements, mainly).

' . The Telegraph (UK)
  ...the e-reader for the mass market
It's smaller, faster and cheaper than its predecessor. The Kindle is ready for the mainstream, writes Matt Warman
  For now, however, where the iPad has its place, so too does the Kindle. Speaking as a consumer, I’ll be buying a Kindle; but I’ll be waiting for tablet computers to evolve before I spend any money on them.

. PC Magazine's Dan Costa
...The latest edition's improvements aren't revolutionary, but the Amazon Kindle remains the best dedicated ebook reader on the market.
...overall, with a lower price, a slimmer, lighter design, higher-contrast screen, and other improvements, the Kindle remains our Editors' Choice for ebook readers.

. WIRED's Steven Levy
...The new third-generation Kindle only makes that future brighter. All its basic virtues—instant downloading from an abundantly stocked store, light weight, ability to read in sunlight—are still there, with significant improvements in text readability, physical design, and battery life.
...Amazon's awareness that it is at the forefront of a movement that may have powerful and unexpected consequences on the centuries-old practice of reading.

. CNet's David Carnoy
...The bottom line: The third-generation Kindle's winning combination of noteworthy upgrades--an improved screen, better battery life, lighter weight, and lower price--vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category.

[He points out that Amazon is marketing it as a ""purpose-built reading device."  And, re the cover with light] ---> The slim light draws power from the Kindle and tucks away into the case (at first glance, you don't even know it's there). The only downside is it's expensive at $59.99, but we have to say, we really liked it.
...As with the Nook, the combination of Wi-Fi and the new browser makes for better surfing, but it still remains a somewhat sluggish, less than fluid affair. The browser's more useable overall, and more Web pages will display properly formatted. But using the navigation button to jump from link to link on a Web page can become a little tedious. And we didn't have much luck logging into our Yahoo or Gmail Webmail accounts.

[ That's odd since customers find gmail not difficult with the Kindle 2. ]

In the end, much as Apple tends to do with its mobile devices, Amazon has simply taken an e-reader that was already good and improved it. Those improvements aren't so great that it will make owners of the second-generation Kindle or Nook feel bad about what they've already bought. But if you're already a Kindle fan, you'll most likely be tempted to pawn off your older model on a friend or family member and purchase this model.
  At these prices, we can actually say the latest Kindle is a solid value for readers looking to make the jump to e-books. '

Mike Cane also leads us to this great
"E-Ink Man" picture at the left in Jack Hidary's story about the $-worth of Jeff Bezos and Amazon, at Huffington Post.



Kindle 3   (UK: Kindle 3),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.