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Competition is good and the Nook probably will evolve into something special (by today's standards).
Just bear in mind there is more to ebook readers than the Kindle; there is literally a dozen other perfectly fine products out there that are *not* version 1.0.
There's Astaks and iRexs (Best Buy is now carrying one with an 8" touch screen and wireless that connects to B&N) and Bookeens and Pocketbooks and Jetbooks and Sonys all over. And there's iPod and iPhones and Android phones and Windows Mobile phones; there's Nokia tablets and Archos Tablets, and assorted UMPCs; there's the mythical Apple tablet (if it ever appears) and the Microsoft mystery Courier. Fujitsu has a pricey color reader running off WinCE and Brother a large format B&W model. Samsung, iRiver, and Asus are all in the market in Asia and coming west. Asus has a dual-pane tft color ereader built off netbook tech coming late this year and a dirt-cheap b&w model built off eink. Plastic logic has the long-hyped large format QUE and the Readius folding display isn't quite dead; the germans have the gorgeous Textr incubating and even the Ukrainians are getting into the act.
There is an entire wave of next-gen readers using plastic screens, next year, and another wave with color by 2011.
Amazon has far more to worry about that simply a fasionably late first effort by a B&M store.
Let's not get caught up in the hype, it's very early in the ebook reader industry; so far, all Amazon has done is stir a hornets' nest by proving there is "gold in them thar hills". They've set a marker that everybody can aim for; doesn't mean they can or will stand still. Or matter much in a year or two.
Ebooks are now where media players where ten years ago and by the time the dust settles, most of the current gadgets are going to look awfully crude and quaint.
Unless you're an active reader and know *exactly* what you want, this is a good time to sit back, wait, and watch the fireworks.
The game is just getting started.
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