You're assuming that Amazon wants to be ANYONE'S friend.

Regardless of how they're trying to spin this, this has bubkes to do with concern for the consumer and everything to do with keeping control of the marketplace.

Not really, but I'm hoping.

Frankly, I think that if they could keep everything locked up tight and sealed, they would. But it's not going to happen; they didn't have enough time or power to keep control of the marketplace and now it's been cracked open.

Sorry, Amazon. You lost that fight.

However, the Kindle is still a really great device, with the (so far) best combination of easy book access and eReader features. They should be afraid, however, as the Nook and the iPad are both possible contenders in both the bookstore and device world (the Sony and CyBook, etc. readers never managed to create an on-device store experience that came close to matching, and so I'm afraid they're completely down for the count). It is NOW in their best interest to open the Kindle up, so that people won't be convinced to buy a Nook because it's "more open". An argument I myself would almost certainly go for, and would probably consider with great seriousness if I were buying, even though by all accounts the Kindle still offers a better experience.

That means they need to do two things:

1) Stop killing off Mobipocket, and let Kindle users easily get their Mobi PIDs so that they can purchase DRMed Mobi content from mobipocket.com, fictionwise, et al. More significantly, this would make it easier to download Mobi library books. I just downloaded one, and was able to get it working on my Kindle, but it required me to run two different Python scripts and who wants to do that? Not my parents, for sure. The point is, if I can do it in two small Python scripts, Amazon could make it a lot easier if they chose.

2) Support ePub, with and without DRM, on the Kindle.They don't have to make their own store ePub, if they don't want to, any more than Apple needed to make their store MP3. If they want to lock their content so that only Kindle branded devices can read it, more power to them. But there is no reason for them to lock their device. The Kindle is not the iPod. Apple got away with not supporting WMA by being Apple, and I STILL think that was a bad move on their part. Amazon won't get away with it.

If the Kindle isn't updated to be a little more open, I'm certain I'll have other choices for my next upgrade. Choices that use ideas THEY pioneered, like the always available, no-monthly-fee bookstore. I love that. I don't want to give it up. But they're not the only player in that field anymore and they'll have to accept that.

Chiming in on the ebooks format. I won't ever stop buying print books, but I loves me some ebooks, for the portability, the price (I got the new Stephen King for 9.99 on ebook, opposed to $35.) and the 3 a.m. factor.

However, it's very annoying to me, now that I have an iTouch, that all the ebooks I bought to read on me PC are not compatible with the itouch. I bought them; I should be able to read them! And they're still stored on the various websites list as downloadable -- but not in the format I need. It's very frustrating. Reading on the iTouch is not as satisfying as reading a print book, but so far I've read the latest King and the latest Gabaldon on it without my eyes falling out my head, and without any major "being taken out of the story"-ness due to the small screen either. I'd like to have access to the other books as well.

My sister got a reader -- I think a Sony eReader -- for Xmas. I'll have to check it out.

Erin: You can probably find a way to read most any book out there on an iPod touch. E-mail me with details about what formats you have (and from what stores) and I can probably help you convert them.

It may require some technically-illegal DRM stripping, but I feel no ethical dilemma removing DRM so that you can read it on your current device. I strip all my Kindle books for future devices, and I am completely willing to announce it.

Gris, I'll do that! That would be great. I wouldn't feel bad about it; I mean, I bought the books and it's not like I'm gonna be giving 'em away. I just want to be able to read them away from my desktop.

My library finally has iPod compatible audiobooks. But they list that as a separate category from their main list, which is kind of annoying.

But they have a different format.

A lot of thsoe separtae lsst are because no one wants to play nice.

How ever, searching by authour or title in the catalog should give you al the formats a book is avalible in

But they have a different format.

I know--that's the annoying part. It's a small slice of what they have available.

cost was the factor

Well, I'm glad they resolved that. They had one format for the longest time. Now they can go to PC, Mac, iPod, MP3, WMA, and burn to CD (yeah, I know some of those overlap).

It is a good thing . Now, we get to see who wins.

I'll consider an eReader when I can get any book I want--old or new--on it and there's no way for the seller to take the book back. That whole 1984 think with the Kindle freaked me out.