Digital Lending Skyrockets at Libraries

December 4, 2011 | News | Leave A Comment

USA Today reports libraries across the United States are ramping up digital lending in a big way, looking to move more strongly into tablets and smart phones.

Digital lending picked up momentum when Amazon enabled lending for its Kindle at 11,000 local libraries, bringing in a wave of new ebook library users. 

Developers are now working with the libraries to develop an app which allows people to borrow ebooks on their smartphones.
Douglas County Libraries in Colorado – where ebook lending has grown about 1,200 percent since February 2010 – is developing its own app which releases this month. The app is supposed to allow patrons to browse, check out and read books.
 
The ebook lending evolution is hampered by the ongoing concerns of publishers who worry library digital distribution could hurt their bottom line. Ebooks are the fastest-growing segment of their business.
Some major publishers, such as Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Hatchette, refuse to sell ebooks to libraries.
Meanwhile, readers can’t get enough of ebook lending. Library Journal reports public libraries increased their offerings by 185 percent this year. 
According to USA Today, the New York Public Library has quadrupled its ebook budget since 2009 and plans to spend $1 million this year, while the Seattle Public Library‘s ebook circulation grew by 92 percent in 2010.

Amazon Jumps into the Tablet Business

August 14, 2011 | News | 2 comments
Apple’s iPad 2

Look out Apple, Amazon plans to introduce a tablet computer this fall.

The device could challenge the iPad. It is expected to have a nine-inch screen and will run on Google’s Android operating system. 

Amazon customers will be able to watch videos, read ebooks and listen to music purchased or rented from Amazon. It is not expected to have a camera.

The new tablet will intensify the competition between Amazon and Apple, both of which are fighting for customers for their own digital books, music and movies.

Amazon is also releasing two new versions of the Kindle. One will have a touch-screen, the other will not. It will be an updated, cheaper version of the current Kindle model.

You can read more about it in this article from The Wall Street Journal.
 

New Nook Outscores Kindle

July 22, 2011 | News | Leave A Comment
The Nook Simple Touch, black and white with touch screen

More evidence that Barnes & Noble’s Nook is nipping at the heels of industry leader Kindle by Amazon.

Consumer Reports  says the new version of the Nook e-reader, the Simple Touch, has outscored Kindle in its ratings for the first time.

According to Consumer Reports, both e-readers have black-and-white screens, but the Simple Touch also has touch-screen navigation and weighs less than the Kindle.

Amazon’s Kindle

You can also borrow ebooks from the public library with the Simple Touch. Kindle is expected to add the library feature sometime later this year.

Consumer Reports also says an e-book reader is still the best way to go – rather than a tablet like the iPad – if reading books is your main use for the device.

The lighter weight makes holding it for long periods of time more comfortable and the screen is easier to read than the text on tablets’ LCD screens, especially in bright sunlight.

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