The new Kindle 3G ebook reader has become’s Amazon’s best-selling product ever. They haven’t released the figures yet but say it has overtaken Harry Potter and the Deathly Halllows, which saw 1 million pre-orders when it was released in 2007.

First going on sale at the end of August 2010, the Kindle 3G should make sales of 8 million by the end of the year, a figure which will not go unnoticed by Apple, whose iPad has sold 12 million since its release back in March.

If you got one for Christmas you’ve probably been discussing its merits with relatives and friends.

Half of them will be impressed by the opportunity to store up to 3,500 books in one small tablet and read them on a screen without straining your eyes; the other half will wave a well-thumbed novel in your face and shout about the death of publishing and say there’s nowt wrong with a real book with pages you can turn with your fingers.

Another marked difference between traditional books and ebook readers is the shared experience which you get through borrowing from libraries or from friends. Up until now ebook readers haven’t offered a lending facility, unless you owned a Barnes & Noble Nook (no, I don’t know anyone with one either).

Amazon has now launched Kindle Book Lending, a new feature that lets you loan Kindle books to anyone you choose. It is careful to point out that ‘Kindle content cannot be shared like a physical book‘ and makes the following restrictions:

- the service is only open to US customers at present
- not all titles are eligible for loaning, it is up to the publisher or rights holder to decide
- the loan period is only 14 days
- all sharing has to be administered through the Amazon site, rather than on the device itself
- while your book is on loan you can’t read it yourself. Just like a real book.

However, on the plus side the borrower does not need to own a Kindle, as the books can also be read using Amazon’s free Kindle reading applications for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry and Android devices.