Yesterday at Book Expo America, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced plans to take over the publishing industry. After that, he plans to fly away to space.
The publishing industry’s reaction? Polite applause.
Bezos’ presentation was something of a coming out party for the Kindle. This is the first Book Expo since the Kindle’s release, and it was the first time that the industry as a whole has had a good look at the device.
Launched last December, the Kindle is just now becoming widely available without a long delay. Bezos was on hand to show off the Kindle, brag about early user reactions, and beat around the bush about what appears to be very promising ebook sales figures.
Naturally, book publishers love Bezos. He’s the man who figured out how to sell books on the Internet. He took the hard work out of ecommerce and provided publishers with an incredibly efficient sales channel at no cost to the industry. What’s not to love?