Christmas is now well behind us, but I'm still very excited about one of my gifts. Like seemingly bazillions of other avid readers, I was ecstatic to see that Santa brought me an Amazon Kindle.
While it took a while to warm up to the idea of doing the bulk of my reading on this wonder of technology, I have since been happily gulping down books left and right. But, just recently, I heard someone mention the ability to "check out" books from the library with an e-reader, which got my attention in a hurry. I very excitedly hopped on the internet and went straight to our library's website, ready to start downloading.
However, my hopes were cruelly dashed when I read the disclaimer, "Our ebooks are not compatible with the Amazon Kindle." This prompted an internet search, where I discovered this atrocity wasn't just a fluke of my library, but all library ebooks. I nearly sobbed with the unfairness of it all.
Who would've thought that the most popular e-reader wouldn't be compatible with digital library books? I probably should've done better research.
At first I was hit with the sense that Amazon is taking the Apple road - "nanny nanny boo boo...we make a good product but you can only use our stuff!" (As I sit here typing on my much-loved Mac). I'm guessing that if Amazon hasn't already started work on this issue, they soon will. If they don't, the Kindle will likely fall off it's Most Popular pedestal, with readers enjoying free library books on their Sony E-Readers and B&N Nooks.
In the meantime, while I wait for a solution, I'm sill enjoying the books I've purchased on my Kindle. I guess I'll have to be content with checking out library books the old-fashioned way. I'd be most interested to see what other Kindle owners have to say about this issue.
