There’s an interesting article in the Library Journal wondering about Amazon’s official stance on libraries lending out Kindle 2s and Kindles to members.
Officially Amazon has always said it’s NOT OK for libraries to lend Kindles. However there have been numerous college libraries and libraries that are lending out Kindles without getting any legal notices from Amazon.
Does it adversely impact Amazon?
There are a few reasons Libraries lending out K2s might be negative for Amazon -
- Multiple people will read books bought once. To be honest I see another Author’s Guild protest here as this is more of a worry for publishers.
- People will weigh the benefits of a $359 Kindle 2 Vs Just lending it at the Library for a few days every month.
- People who hate the Kindle or are upset about the $359 price will lend it out and then write negative reviews. Basically, all the people who’ve never touched a Kindle and were writing 1 star reviews will now lend it out and make up a litany of reasons why it sucks.
- Can’t really think of more negatives.
What are the benefits to Amazon?
At the same time the benefits to Amazon are numerous -
- It does mean Kindle 2s and Kindle Edition books are being bought.
- A lot of people get to play around with the Kindle 2.
- Its an indirect competitor to Google’s plan of licensing Google Books to libraries – that plan has the flaw of having only 1 computer per library that has free access.
- Library patrons will usually make ideal Amazon customers – hey, they love books.
- A lent Kindle 2 is a lent Kindle 2. Lots of people will want the feeling of ownership. Others will want access to a Kindle at all times. These factors will lead to people buying a Kindle 2.
Libraries lending out Kindle 2s is good for Amazon
It’s basically marketing for Amazon and means that a lot more people will get exposed to the Kindle 2.
Any library that lends out Kindles is in effect a Kindle 2 Demo Store.
With the added benefit that instead of Amazon bearing the cost of running and staffing it, Amazon gets paid by the library for the privilege of marketing Kindle 2s to library members.
Libraries are to Kindle 2s (and soon to Kindle Textbook Editions) what Apple Stores are to iPods and iPhones.
Amazon has ZERO retail stores and there’s no place people can actually try out Kindle 2/Kindle (except for the ‘See a Kindle in your City’ option which is not very easy or scalable).
Kindles in libraries mean a LOT of people who would otherwise never try out a Kindle will. These people will see all its benefits and features, and some portion of them will buy Kindle 2s.
By officially saying they don’t allow Libraries to lend out Kindles and Kindle 2s Amazon is once again avoiding legal issues. Another master-stroke in my opinion.
Filed under: availability Tagged: | kindle in libraries, kindle library
This is a weird gray area that I’ve spent plenty of time trying to get to the bottom of to no avail. The contract language states that “Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party.” Yet different librarians continue to get different responses, often with some kind of tacit approval. The fact that this has come up in the press and blogs often since late 2007 and Amazon has still avoided making a clarifying statement about library policy is quite a master-stroke.
One problem with lending out Kindles is that the borrower could use the borrowed Kindle to purchase a very expensive book, read it and return to the lender who is now our of pocket by a chunk.
I wonder how many ‘book clubs’ exist where patrons share the cost of e-books and register all their Kindles to one account?