From a New York Times interview with Jeff Bezos, about the Kindle:
Barnes & Noble claims on its Web site that the Nook has several advantages over the Kindle — for one thing, a Nook book can be lent to friends. You can forward the text to another user.
The current thing being talked about is extremely limited. You can lend to one friend. One time. You can’t pick two friends, not even serially, so once you’ve loaned one book to one friend, that’s it.
You have to pick just one person? What are you saying? It’s like “Sophie’s Choice”?
It is “Sophie’s Choice.” Very nicely done.
Gee. zus. I don’t believe either of these people have any idea what exactly Sophie’s choice was. Sophie had to choose which of her children would be murdered. By Nazis.
The Nook lets you choose which of your friends will get to read a particular eBook you purchased, without needing to buy it themselves. Is this limited sharing as good as what we get with real books? Of course not. But it beats the sharing the Kindle offers, which is to say, none at all.
