Consumer spending is way down in the midst of the recession, but that hasn't stopped Amazon's $359 Kindle book reader from selling out until February. While many observers were skeptical that the literary crowd would be willing to go digital, the surprise success of the device is prompting competitors to put out their own e-book devices, like Sony's upcoming ESlick Reader. E-Books still make up less than 1 percent of the book market, but their sales have gone up as much as fourfold over the last year.
Read it at The New York Times
