Cyberspace, the new bookstore? So, where's my Latte?

“The battle to determine the future of electronic-book retailing took a new turn Monday when Barnes & Noble Inc., America's largest bookstore chain, opened an online e-bookstore with more than 700,000 titles and said it has struck a partnership with a company developing a possible competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader.”

Do you remember standing at the newsstand in the airport looking for a good book to read on the plane, or those days spent at the public library or book store? It seems like just yesterday but, the world of technology is quickly changing the way we used to do things in life. Today you can sort through thousands of titles online and download a book at the click of a mouse. Barnes and Noble is throwing their hat into the electronic-book retailing ring. They have partnered with a company as a possible competitor to Amazon.com’s Kindle. It is not yet determined if they too will develop a hand held device or if they will go the route of the mobile device such as the blackberry and iPhone. “What we launched today is a commitment to assemble one of the world's largest digital catalogs and to offer e-books on any device they choose if it's available," said William J. Lynch, Jr., who was named president of the retailer's online business, Barnes & Noble.com, in early January. "We see e-books as additive for the publishing industry. The question is how much, and we don't yet know that." Amazon has declined to comment, but in the publishers world this new partnership hopes to bring added competition to build business. I look forward to what the future brings and the ability to download thousands of books without ever leaving the house but does that mean I need to make my own Latte?

The Wall Street Journal

Barnes and Nobles Challenges Amazon’s Kindle

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Geoffrey A.

Fowler. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jul 21, 2009. pg. B.1