It’s been interesting to read the reaction to the vague report of ebook sales for the Kindle http://mashable.com/2009/12/26/kindle-ebook-sales/ and the ensuing discussion.  In particular, that it is a non-story.

The argument goes something along the lines of “sure all the books were bought before Christmas and the Kindle gifts drove up the ebook sales numbers”. This is a completely true statement - but misses the point entirely.

People are reading - more importantly - buying ebooks.  Period.  That is the story.

To all the ebook naysayers (how many of you actually read in the tub anyways), the game has changed.  2009 has been the year of the ebook:

• Kindle 2 and DX, Kindle goes international
• Barnes & Noble releases the Nook
• Kobo (nee Shortcovers) launches as a global, platform agnostic ebook option with international backing (disclaimer: I spent the last year developing the Shortcovers/Kobo iPhone app)
• Lexcycle, makers of Stanza iPhone eReader, partners with Fictionwise -> Fictionwise gets purchased by B&N, Lexcycle gets purchased by Amazon (and is now virtually dead - have you seen the latest update? second-tier new icon?)
• seems as though everyone and their grandmother is (or is on the way) producing an ebook reader device
• 1/5 of iPhone apps approved in October where ebooks of some form

So the Kindle ebook sales out pacing dead tree sales on Christmas day is the last of a long list of ebook headlines this year. The printed word landscape is forever morphed by the tectonic shift that is digital media.

Now that we all agree on this, get over it, deal with it, shut up about it.  What I want to know is who is going to step up and actually start innovating? Instead of replicating a dead tree format on the godawful eInk displays (poor resolution and the flicker drive me nuts), or worse on full colour, high powered, multimedia smartphone. The iPod Giga (my name for the iSlate = 1/nano) will kickstart this trend in early 2010, see you there.