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.

Now is the time to play the prediction game and we can bet that nobody's playing it more than Steve Riggio & Co. What will their stores look like in 10 years? What else will they have to sell to get you to keep on coming in?  What will the BN brand stand for? Will they soon turn into Barnes and Amazon or Noble Starbucks? -- will they have to develop their own e-reader? Let's face it, if publishers can go straight to their potential reader, what role will be left to good ole fashion book retailers?