Amazon’s textbook rental program has been around for a few months, and it looks like Amazon’s thinking about widening its scope — paidContent noticed that a few of the books currently available to rent aren’t strictly textbooks. One such book is Strange Histories, a book about belief systems in the Renaissance and Medieval worlds; it’s a scholarly book that could certainly be used in school, but it’s not a textbook in the “Introduction to Calculus” sense, and at $26.95 it’s also far cheaper than most textbooks, so renting doesn’t seem as necessary. The book, like textbooks, can be rented at a discount for 30, 60, 90, or 120 days. There aren’t many other examples like it just yet, but Amazon’s been experimenting with a number of different ways of renting books, from a Netflix-style rental program for Prime members to its new lending program, and a Blockbuster-for-books model seems to fit right in.
Some non-textbook Amazon Kindle books available to rent
Amazon has rented textbooks for Kindle users for a while, and now it looks like the company’s moving toward books that aren’t strictly textbooks.
Amazon has rented textbooks for Kindle users for a while, and now it looks like the company’s moving toward books that aren’t strictly textbooks.
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
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