I already watched this movie before in the 90s, when I worked for the major labels promoting alternative rock music for the BMG group.

MP3.com and file sharing was rapidly gaining traction, and the record labels treated it as the 800 pound gorilla in the room. No one wanted to address this new technology or embrace it.

During that last "boom" in the mid 90s, we celebrated increased revenues every year and spent money like crazy. Lavish listening parties for new albums with boutique microbrew beverages and French food catered in to nice venues that were rented out and filled with a variety of local press, radio, and retail people who happily gobbled up the hors d'oeuvres.

I kept trying to wake everyone up, but very few would listen. I was lucky that one of my own musical projects got "signed", and I was given a choice as to whether I wanted to take the deal, or continue working for the labels. I opted for the record deal, and even though I never broke through to be a "star", it was the right choice. 95% of the people I worked with at the labels in the 90s are now out of the business.

It is the advancement of HARDWARE that is driving this new movement in the publishing world. E-Readers like the Kindle are the Sony Walkman of the new generation, the Apple I-pod of the new Literati.

I am hopeful that publishers will have already learned this lesson from seeing the downfall of the major record labels, as those that forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Be PROACTIVE and sign the writers to fair deals that include the e-publishing rights. Sign authors to "360 deals" that include all possible revenue streams from their work.

This new technology is beautiful, and as soon as I can afford a Kindle, I will probably have one, and be happily carrying around as many of my favorite books as possible.

For the traditionalists, I totally understand that you will always want to have a paper and ink book. I like them too. I love the sight of them, the smell of them, the entire gestalt that a BOOK inspires.

But my 13 year old daughter doesn't care about that experience. All of her music is on her Ipod. She doesn't own any physical CDs, and lives on her mini laptop. She is the future. And most of us are dinosaurs in her world

Bobby DeVito

I think Amazon needs to tell us if Kindle sales are replacing or augmenting hardcover sales. Because if they sold 100 hardcovers and 70 Kindle books last year, but sold 100 hardcovers and 120 Kindle books this year- then it's a lateral extension of the traditional market rather than a replacement.

Though, I do admit, since purchasing my iPad, I've bought more books this year than I did last year (whereas last year, I read the same amount of books, I just would have gotten them from the library). You can't argue with the convenience of being able to finish one book and download a new one (at such low prices) in seconds.

What I've noticed is that there is such a readily available selection of classics to download for free. Even before I had an iPad or knew what one was, I had a Classic Books app on my iPhone that gave me about twenty titles, all for free. I've wondered if the number of people reading the classics for fun (not as homework) would rise because of this.

Well… so? You can get mashed potatoes anywhere, so people aren't going to rely on KFC to fill ALL their mashed potato needs. But if you want a Double Down, you can only get it at KFC.

And I swear to god, this isn't an ad for KFC. I'm just like– Amazon hasn't sold more "ebooks" than hardcovers. They've sold more proprietary Kindle files than hardcovers, which kinda makes sense, given that's the ONLY place you can get a Kindle file.

(I see hardcovers less like books and more like art. They look better on the shelf, but you don't want to have to actually hold it the hours it takes to finish reading the thing.)

Stephen King's book alone hit 900,000 sold, where his two previous hardcovers were just above half that.

Great stories by great authors will continually fuel the market to a place where success is assured.