I think it is hilarious that librarians are surprised by this change. The publishers (or at least most) NEVER gave permission for companies like Amazon, B&N, etc to put their content on multiple devices. The books were ALWAYS designed for a CONSUMER to purchase for their device. If that consumer purchased more than one device, then they were allowed to use content on other devices. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have been selling their devices to schools hoping that publisher would not enforce the original agreements. Why are we (librarians- I am one too!!) surprised that publishers are upset? Why it is the publisher's responsibility to enforce these agreements? I always thought there was something fishy about the situation. Why did others not question it?

My wife and I, along with our four daughters have six kindles on one account and share books. It works well. However, we are surprised at how infrequently two are reading the same book at the same time. For a school library - all six would be likely be reading the same book at the same time. Schools and colleges really need to get into wikibooks and write your own. Then they can be converted to Kindle and Nook books and for free have as many copies as you need.

Amazon is missing a tremendous opportunity here. They could create a new service. They could sell Kindles at a discount with a group registry. Bundle e-books at a three tier (or more) level. Perhaps even offer subject collections. All for the price of registering multiple devices (priced according to the number of devices). Encourage the libraries to buy and lend the kindle device. They will eventually be destroyed, lost or stolen. Then the library will buy more. Meanwhile, the library is also paying a monthly service fee to maintain the registry of e-book collections that are available. Amazon can then have a portal "Amazon@Your Library" that shows a catalog of all the books available on the Library's Kindle. Promoting more use. Buy service subscriptions and more Kindle Purchases by Libraries. Oh boy, are they missing a real gravy train !

BN.com/stores already have a content management system for bulk purchases available with NOOK. Contact Ann Arbor store for bulk order help or answers. We can help with these systems (1/1) or get you in contact with a store that can!

Big loss for Amazon, sell the Kindles at a mass discount and make money from the publishing % they receive from each copy. Sidenote: If you're looking for a great Kindle book check out "The Imperfect Enjoyment" by Dewan Gibson. Hilarious and touching:)

We purchased two Kindles for our school library so that faculty could try an electronic reader. We later added four more Kindles and allowed high school students to check them out. I am amazed at the number of teachers and students that now own personal Kindles--and having them in the library allowed people to try them before making an expensive commitment. Hmm--too bad we didn't get a commission on all of those Kindles people have purchased in our school community! Amazon has always been so creative in marketing products, but they are missing the boat on this one.

My thoughts: Kindles are designed to be and priced as personal devices so work most effectively if you adopt a personalized model of learning. For example you can use them as a <a href="http://primarypad.com">collaborative editor if you use PrimaryPad</a>. Because of this I can understand why Amazon are taking this approach, not to mention the digital content is licensed per individual, not per organization. It would be great for schools if Amazon buckle on this and take a loss on it but as they are already taking a loss on the device that is unlikely.

@ Melissa, I also remember that Amazon had posted on their website that an e-book could be shared by up to six Kindles, which my colleagues and I (school district) interpreted as permission to share content with up to six Kindles. Great for small reading groups. I don't think anyone could be faulted for interpreting their statement otherwise. One would assume that they had gotten permission from publishers before making that statement. Last winter I was sending e-mails to e- book vendors trying to get clarification on policy for Kindle (and other devices) use in educational settings. Nothing seemed to have been worked out at all last winter. I agree w/Dean above that an opportunity is being missed by Amazon! I remember the early days of the Apple computer, when they were super education- friendly, and therefore they were used heavily in schools...how to grow your own customer-base??? I can only hope as this area matures that the vendors and publishers develop an education division to encourage the use of their devices in schools.

I don't think librarians are mad about the fact that they can't download 1 book on 6 different Kindles. Librarians don't like violating copyright law, we are supposed to be the poster children for following copyright law, not to mention the role models for those we teach and work with everyday. I for one, feel it is very frustrating when I have to load the same book on multiple devices, because my students get frustrated that the book doesn't work like it should. I think what librarians are really mad about is Amazon's inconsistency and the fact that they are treating libraries like the rest of their consumers, when really we are using the Kindles in much different capacities than the average consumer. If my library is unable to use Kindles because Amazon cannot get their act together with schools and libraries, they will loose a lot costumers, because in turn we end up selling the Kindles to students, patrons, parents and teachers.

I was also told back in April/May by an Amazon education rep that titles could be shared on up to 6 Kindles. This information was a factor in my choosing Kindles. Changing the "rules" after the purchase would not be an acceptable business practice in the business world. I doubt Amazon would do business with companies that treated their customers as they are treating librarians and their patrons.

I think it's interesting that it isn't until the end of the article that it's noted that BN is also going to have to obey the 1:1 rule publishers are instituting. The article's title should have read "E-reader Purchasers Face New Rules," because ALL e-readers will have to comply with these rules, not just Kindle. It is not Amazon who is actually doing this, but the publishers. Apple went through the same issue. Consumers were allowed to buy one copy of an app and install it on 5 devices registered to one account. App developers went through the roof when they realized schools and businesses were taking advantage of this and buying thousands of units, but not thousands of copies of an app. Apple now has a volume licensing store for businesses and schools to use to purchase apps for their multiple units. They have a 'management system', but unless you buy a third party management program at great expense, their management system doesn't help with the actual management of the units - meaning the downloading of content. That is still extremely time consuming and unwieldy even with the iPad cart Apple sells (also expensive) for syncing 20-25 iPads at one time.

Our district purchased 12 Kindles for student book club use a year ago. It has already been a bit of a hassle to purchase the books (we purchased several titles for kids to choose from), load each title onto 6 different Kindles, etc. This new rule makes it virtually impossible for districts like mine to purchase and use Kindles. If I'd known Amazon would make this rule, we would have definitely gone with a different device!

This will create a further rift in the "digital divide." Schools have purchased ebook readers to help their students with twenty-first century skills. Each librarian that received an ebook reader grant from the Dept. of Ed. last May spent countless hours uploading books and learning how to use the devices. It was a very time consuming process, due to firewalls in schools and having librarians take each ereader home to upload the materials beyond the wall. By making this change, Amazon's kindle is eliminating itself from the NYC school system.

Another thing that isn't clear about this supposed change (and I say supposed since no one from either company has replied to any of my inquiries) is: How does this affect those of us who already have devices in circulation? Is this a retroactive policy change or will it be enforced going forward? As of today 8/4/2011, I can still order book content for multiple devices for both Kindle and Nook. My local B&N store manager has no knowledge of the proposed changes, although a colleague down the road 100 miles has been told by her local B&n something completely different. What really is irksome is that all this is coming along right as we are preparing for the new school year. With no warning, no nothing. We need information that is consistent and credible in order to make good financial decisions. And this is not just about "school libraries" - universities are schools too! Some of the issues are different than with K-12, but still.

This is good to know. We were ready to purchase 30 Kindles but after reading Amazon's response, we will be moving to the Nook instead. I fully understand that if I need my 30 devices to be accessing the same book at the same time, I need to buy 30 copies. I simply need an easy way to manage those 30 devices without creating 30 separate accounts. What happens if we expand our program to all of our 1500 students? Set up 1500 accounts? That is crazy. I also need a way to have a limited number of devices that have access to a full library of books. I think that it is unreasonable to purchase every title for every device. No library would ever go all digital if that is the case. Publishers need to snap out of their 20th century mindset. I know that consumers can't have everything that they want, but let's get together and meet somewhere in the middle.

I am seeing great options with non-fiction ebooks where you purchase one copy and any internet-linked device can view what you have purchased either through IP address recognition or with a password. Perhaps the solution is a fiction ebook provider that works with this kind of connection and a bunch of internet capable devices (ipad, smartphone, desktop, netbook, etc.). Of course, if you are out of wireless range, that wouldn't work so well...

this is from the kindle/amazon faq. "At present, it is not possible to load content across multiple independent devices at one time; this must be done on each device separately" i have taken this to mean that you can share content (up to six times), but you need to download the book 6 times, once for each device ... although you only pay once, this is achieved via the "manage your kindle" option. i have done this by download the book 6 indivual times for each book and placed the file in a seperate directory for each device and then made sure that the right version went on the right device