Amazon to Rent Textbooks on E-Readers

Sorry, Canadian university students, you'll have to wait for this obvious idea that could save cash-strapped students hundreds of dollars.

(American) university students could save a boatload of money this year as online retailer Amazon has begun e-renting e-textbooks for its e-reader, the Kindle. Amazon says prices for renting out textbooks on the gadgets are a fifth of what students would pay for the hardcopy, which sounds great because, if our bookshelves are any indication, once you're done with, oh, say, a second-year poli-sci textbook, you will likely never, ever touch that $120 book again. While the service isn't yet available in Canada (how many times have you heard that phrase before?), it ought to help U.S. students shoulder the massive debt load required to make it through undergrad programs.