Mlearning Article #1 Nook

“Why We Won't Purchase More Kindles at the Unquiet Library”

This article was about some of the drawbacks of using Kindles (as opposed to Nooks) in a library setting. The author is a librarian herself, setting up a reading program that utilizes e-readers. The library currently uses a fleet of ten Kindles, but was recently contacted by Amazon asking them to remove information from their website on how to register 6 Kindles per account in order to share digital content. Amazon now requires a separate email for each device, which means that managing e-book content will have to be done separately on each Kindle. The only library management tool offered is a subscription to Overdrive, which is financially unfeasible for most schools and libraries, as well as being unsuitable for younger readers. As a result, this particular library has decided to use Nook Simple Touch instead.

I had a mixed response to this article. On the one hand, I felt that I understood Amazon's policy; they are simply trying to enforce licensing agreements, which is incredibly difficult with any digital content. Sometimes extreme measures are required. The author of the article acknowledges this, but felt that Amazon was not being responsive to the needs of institutional consumers. Ideally, Amazon should have come up with a management system for libraries before enforcing the 1 account:1 device policy. With a management system in place, I am sure libraries would be happy to comply with copyright laws, as they do with printed content. Sadly, I think Amazon will lose quite a few potential customers until they are able to come up with a feasible way for schools and libraries to manage their Kindle devices.