A key factor in the success of the Amazon Kindle reader has undoubtedly been the number of Kindle books available for consumers to choose from. Currently, Kindle owners can choose from over 725,000 Kindle books – and that’s just the paid titles. Amazon also offer 1.8 million out of copyright books which can be downloaded to the Kindle free of charge.
In addition to making so much reading material available for Kindle users, Amazon has certainly bent over backwards to allow readers to enjoy Kindle books without a Kindle reader. This has been achieved by releasing a number of free Kindle apps which permit Kindle books to be read on a variety of different electronic devices.
At this time, there are free Kindle apps for the Windows PC, the Apple Mac, any device which runs the Android Operating System, the iPad, the iPhone and Blackberry’s smart phone. At first glance, it almost looks as if Amazon is its own worst enemy but, in reality, the fact of the matter is that each of these apps acts as a very efficient retail outlet for Kindle books.
Amazon has just announced that, in the near future, Kindle owners will be able to “lend” each other Kindle books. Amazon has not yet confirmed the exact date – but it should start prior to the year end.
Kindle owners will have the option of lending Kindle books to their family and friends for a fortnight. The “borrower” will be able to read the book on their Kindle reader – just as if they had bought it themselves. Whilst the book is lent out, the original purchaser won’t be able to access it. Precisely the same as normal book in point of fact.
Not all books will be able to be lent to friends and family. The final say as to whether or not a particular Kindle book may be lent out rest with the book’s publisher. It will be interesting to discover how different publishing houses react to this.
Amazon has also confirmed that its currently existing free Kindle apps will be extended to include magazines and newspapers in addition to Kindle books. The Apple devices will be activated first, followed by desktop applications and Android devices.
Over the last eighteen months or so, ebook readers and ebooks have really taken off. They are still at a relatively early stage in their market development – but the public seem to have become accustomed to them. Amazon’s latest development brings ebooks ever closer to the full functionality of traditional, printed books. Ebooks can now be considered to be pretty much interchangeable with traditional books – apart from the fact that you can’t mark your place with a dog-ear. It’s another significant step forward for ebooks and ebook readers and will help them to become even more widely accepted by the reading public.
Check out the Amazon Kindle for yourself and view the wide range of Kindle accessories available to help you personalise your reader.