I spoke with Sony today about their recently launched eBook Reader and they seem to be getting a lot of positive press. It seems that eBook readers of old have had problems with adoption by the public, but the new Sony eBook Reader is approaching this a little different. First, they made the Reader about 6″x9″, the same size as most paperback novels. They also partnered with major publishing houses to provide digital downloadable versions of their best sellers through their Connect web site. Lastly, they have a digital rights management system to protect an author’s copyrights. So what could help Sony, and the publishers, get more traction?

Enter Google. They announced earlier this year that they are going to start offering eBook sales through the Google Book Search program. They are entering the eBook arms race as well, leveraging their relationships with publishers and authors that they have developed in their four-year quest to make every book searchable. In addition to providing links to buy a searched book online through Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, they will provide a link to “download eBook” from the same preview screen. There are rumors that Amazon is also coming out with an eBook reader that will be more sophisticated than Sony’s handheld device.

With Google and Amazon getting into this space, what more validation do you need that eBooks are the distribution model to watch in 2007?

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