Amazon Expands Prime with E-book Lending
Amazon today introduced the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library which allows Kindle owners to borrow one e-book a month directly from Amazon with no due dates or late fees. Now I know that e-books are not the type of thing we usually cover here at Missing Remote, but this is an interesting announcement even for us media mavens because of how the new lending service will tie into Amazon Prime.
Amazon announced a new service today that will put a library into the hands of Kindle owners who have an Amazon Prime membership.
Amazon is introducing the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which allows Kindle users to borrow books for free — as long as they have an Amazon Prime membership.
Keep in mind that the $79 a year Amazon Prime service not only provides free two-day shipping, but is also the ticket to Amazon’s free streaming version of Amazon Instant Video. If you were on the fence about trying out Netflix’s smaller competitor and you own a Kindle, this should be a no-brainer. More importantly it suggests that the connection between Amazon Prime and Amazon Instant Video was not some strange one time marketshare builder, but is rather an indication that Amazon Prime is the wedge that Amazon is planning on using to build recurrent revenue while entering new streaming media markets. Think of the Lending Library as streaming text, and it is easy to see the parallel to Amazon Instant Video. How long until we see an Amazon Prime connected music streaming service and Amazon positions tself as the ultimate media streaming bundle provider?