I know people get pretty protective of their brand choices, but the Kindle has been the best thing to ever happen for eBooks. Not because it's better technologically, but because it brought the very idea of ebooks to the masses and it did that doing what only Amazon could do:
- It's a company many know and trust
- It has the power and clout to force the book publishers into competitive and appropriate pricing
- it has the selection to make such a thing worthwhile
On top of that, it was smart enough to get Newspapers and Magazines on board and make it painless for the average user to get that content!
Sony couldn't have pulled that off, and no one else could either. eBooks as a whole are better off for them entering the market. And it is possible some companies will not be able to tolerate the competition (in both books and hardware) and that is always the case during such transitions, but in the end we'll all be better off in terms of selection, pricing, and usability.
(Sorry for the second post, wrote the first on my phone and wanted to expand a bit.)