Amazon's Kindle came out last year and many people really liked it. Many people also disliked it, calling it ugly, uncomfortable to read, or just not something they would ever use or need.

I think a lot of people may come around as the Kindle 2 gets more popular. If you think about it, an ebook reader is a pretty cool thing. Many people probably still want to read traditional books made from trees, but how much longer will we be able to produce paperbacks as our forests dwindle?

An e-book reader like Amazon's Kindle 2 is a good answer to that question.

With Amazon's Whispernet technology, Kindle owners can download complete books in 60 seconds and they can choose from a library of 230,000 titles, including 103 out of the 110 New York TImes best sellers.

Owners of the e-book reading device can also access newspapars, like the New York Times, as well as blogs and magazines. I have a feeling more people will jump on board the Kindle wagon the second time around, if only because it's less a foreign thing at this point

Amazon is really working hard to make as many books as possible available digitally, a move that shows how much the company believes in its portable reading device and it's forecasting of what the future of book sales looks like.

The Kindle 2 is "pushed" on the front page of Amazon--it has been since the original device was released. If the biggest bookseller online is giving this much attention to the e-book reader, then it's probably something other retailers should take notice of.

The Future of the Kindle 2

What if a huge shift begins to happen as "green" sentiments start to take hole in the book publishing world? Or what if Amazon begins to get lucrative "digital-only" contracts with highly-acclaimed authors? What are Barnes and Noble and Borders going to do? They may go out of business because they are sure not being buffered by solid CD and DVD sales.

The Kindle 2 utilizes 3G technology that gets very good reception pretty much anywhere. This means you can download a book anywhere. The new version of the handheld device will even read your books to you. How about that for service? Anywhere you have access to Sprint's network, you can quickly and easily access the Amazon e-book store.

Kindle 2 comes out February 24. Purchase or learn more about Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device.

The recently released Sony Reader Pocket Edition (PRS-300), a 5-inch e-book reader, which at a price of $199.00 beats the prices of the Amazon Kindle 2 by $100, is aimed squarely at Amazon's market share.

Will the Sony e-Reader succeed in taking some of the e-book reading population away from the Kindle? To me, it seems that there is room for a cheaper e-book reader, like the Sony model, to steal some of the thunder of the Kindle if it can reach out to an audience that hasn't tried to kindle yet.

It seems that when it comes to the Amazon Kindle, you either really like (and own it) or just don't care about it. Sony may be able to get a foot in on the "don't cares" if it can offer some lure to these people. We shall see. Competition is always healthy, isn't it?

Plastic Logic will be debuting a wireless e-book reader as well in the near future, which will work in partnership with Barnes and Noble's e-book store.