Do we really remember what listening to and purchasing music was like before iTunes… or the iPod for that matter? These numbers are a testament to the type of transformation that’s been made from an industry which once relied almost solely on going to your local record store and purchasing a CD.

Where else is this type of transformation taking place? Two other industries that are beginning to see a similar shift to digital format are the Print Media and Book markets. Believe it or not the first e-book was actually published back in 1971 through a project called Project Gutenberg. The goal of this project was to digitize and archive cultural works. Ironically, the first document to be digitized through this project is one of our nation’s most important, The Declaration of Independence.

So, if the concept of e-books has been around this long, why today… nearly 40 years later are people finally taking notice? There are many answers to this question, but the most important is that today’s technology has finally allowed consumers to easily take advantage of books and print media in a digital format.

Two devices that notably stand out when talking about reading in a digital format are the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Up until this point the Kindle has dominated the e-reader/e-book market mainly because they’ve been able to leverage one of the things they’ve done best since Amazon was founded… selling books. Amazon has been able to do what other companies, such as Sony, haven’t by making available a huge selection of books in a digital format, at a significantly lower price than print, downloadable directly on the device. I like to make the analogy that the Kindle is to the Kindle Store what the iPhone is to the App Store.

So what about the Barnes and Noble Nook? Will this be a significant threat to the Kindle? In my opinion, Barnes and Noble are entering the e-reader market at a perfect time. Amazon has done a great job getting people excited about reading books in a digital format, but Barnes and Noble has one thing Amazon doesn’t, physical locations. When the Nook is released in a little over a week, customers will be able to download any e-book directly from Barnes and Noble, and if they’re in the store they’ll have access to free Wi-Fi from the device and the ability to even read entire books for free while in the store.
The biggest advantage though, is the fact that customers will be able to actually pick up and play with the nook prior to purchasing. Something the Kindle doesn’t have because it’s only available through the online retailer.

It should be interesting to see where the e-book/e-reader market takes us in the months and years to come. Will the Nook overtake the Kindle as the number one e-reading device? Are e-readers going to do to the book/print media market what mp3 players did to the music industry? Will you eventually make the shift towards reading in a digital format?

Guest post by Zach Schmid.

Thoughts/Opinions?