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True, this is likely a reaction to the release of Kindle, but that could still be a good thing.
With the huge volume of books at the disposal of Borders (and Amazon), we're looking at the possibility of introductory "book clubs" that will subsidize a discount on the reader and sell e-books at a price lower than print books (at least for a time).
We can also hope that ePub will become standard issue for both stores and readers, not to mention all readers created in the future, tying us all into one big combined library of books from both sources.
I also agree that, if this is expanded beyond the U.S. market, it will be a huge step in international use of e-books.
On the downside: These two book powerhouses' dominating the market will make it a lot harder for the independents to make it. On the other hand, a proliferation of readers and standardized formats should help the independents as much as the big stores.
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