Eppythacher, based on the time marks between notice going out on Mobileread on the sale, and being notified by members that they were all gone, I'd say the time frame was more like 4 hours!
Anyway, it's clear that Sony can sell the Reader much faster at a lower price, and I'm sure they're trying to figure out what that lower price is. Maybe they're shopping around for a cheaper manufacturer (because we know they're not building them themselves)... once the prototypes are out, others can figure out a way to copy them cheaply...
ahem, less expensively.
They could even license the design to another company or companies altogether, and commit to supplying regular firmware updates, or sell it outright if they don't like the profit line.
So even if Sony gives up on the Reader, it doesn't necessarily mean it's gone for good. A good product is a good product, and someone else can make it sell.