While, as we'd predicted, out of necessity Barnes and Noble is moving into the e-books business, it is strange that they would first target Blackberry users with their newly acquired Fictionwise.

As a BB owner myself I can state the following: BB screens are just not as pleasant as their iphone counterparts. They're smaller - as a matter of fact they're tiny - and as much as they're great to catch up on the latest news or for reading a couple of New York Times article while waiting in the cashier line at the supermarket, they are definitely nothing to drool over when it comes to reading "In Search of Lost Time."

E-books are a growing market, yes, but, truthfully, an e-reader for the BB seems a step backward. Makes you wonder what they have in mind next....a MAGNIFIER?

Oops....it already exists!

For all of us who said they would never read a newspaper online, we know that only as Emerson once stated: "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

So let's all agree on one thing, electronic reading is here to stay, grow and obviously, take over good old fashion paper books. Nobody's saying "books" as we know them will completely disappear but they will be competing with new distribution pipelines -- same as movies are competing with DVDs, DVD with "TV On Demand" or Blockbuster with Netflix and Netflix with Watch Now Netflix. 

The real question is: what will happen to bookstores as we know them? If you can -- and will -- download books on your tablet, at any time, when will you or, rather, will you ever step into a Barnes and Noble, a Borders or your indie bookstore?

 I, have not gone to Blockbuster for years, and I no longer browse the aisle of any DVD reseller. Why? cause it's all here -- on my computer -- my desktop, my laptop or any wifi access I get when I travel.