Amazon has come up with an offer which is probably sweeter than Apple's Back to School offers. However, the deal is available only to
the Kindle owners. Amazon is allowing you to rent textbooks, thus saving you up to 80 percent of the retail price you otherwise will have to pay for buying them. The internet retail giant has already tied up with big ticket publishing houses such as Elsevier, Taylor & Francis and Wiley & Sons.
The biggest plus point in favor of the new scheme is that it won't restrict you to your Kindle e-reader. Once you rent the book under this scheme, you can read it on any device which can run Kindle app. The rental period will vary between 30 and 360 days and once your rental period is over, you still would be able to use your notes.
However, Amazon is not the first one to come up with Textbook rental service. Barnes & Noble already has this service running under "Nook Study" brand. With this new service, Amazon will not only be aiming at "Nook Study" but would also target the in-campus stores run by Barnes & Noble. B&N offers rental service through its retail stores also.
Amazon is looking to offer a couple of thousand books available by the start of school season. The company has not clarified whether the program has been launched globally.