Amazon To Bring Ebook Lending to Local Libraries

Is it:
a) an exciting development for libraries and Kindle users alike or
b) about time Amazon got with the program - the Nook and all other e-book readers have been doing this for years?

That seems to be the debate on Mashable and elsewhere.

Personally, I think it's both. The only people I know who have e-book readers all have Kindles. For them, it will be a great opportunity to access more free reading material - especially my mother, who lives in a rural area with very limited (physical) library access. On the other hand, this is something the competition (most notably, Barnes & Noble with the Nook) have been doing well for quite some time. Amazon is pretty much the last one to the party when it comes to e-book library lending, yet they get headlines? (And isn't it ironic that they announce this big story shortly before having the planet's biggest cloud server failure, sending websites around the world -including the MLC website - plunging into darkness for 2 days?)

Ah, technology. It's a love-hate relationship.

Mostly love, though.