As many of you know, I travel by air A LOT.  One thing in my travels that has been striking of late is how prevalent e-readers, such as Amazon's Kindle, are becoming.  A year ago, I rarely saw one. Now, it is not uncommon for me to see several people reading them inflight.  And, as an owner of a Kindle now for almost a year, I can understand why.  All the books that are listed as being "On the Nightstand" elsewhere on this site are actually on my Kindle, with the exception of the Neuorscience textbook. (I have found that graphics do not render well on the Kindle screen.)

The convenience of having a number of books available at once is certainly part of the attraction. As is its ease of use- you can hold it and operate it in one hand. As is the ability to dowload new reading material instantaneously.  Not just books but newspapers as well.

Road rats get this in a hurry, what with all the other gear we have to schlepp hither, thither and yon.  In fact, the question I get most frequently from business travelers about my own book is, "Can I get it on my Kindle?"  (The answer for now is, "No"- so if you're one of those folks, or even if you're not, please go to the book's page on Amazon and click where it gives you the option to ask the publisher to make it available in that form.)

A friend of mine who works in this line of business in one of the big publishing houses tells me that they are watching these trends with interest and maybe a bit of concern.  He thinks that the business model of the physical bookseller is imperilled by new technology and in time only a few very well-located bookstores will survive.  I would also expect those stores that provide exceptional service to a loyal clientele- Murder by the Book in Houston being the best example, and the gold standard for small independents- will also do okay.

What the implications of all this are for traditional book publishing remains to be seen.  One thought is to look at the music business and what Apple has done in that space for some clue as to where the future of publishing may lie.