clipped from www.economist.com

Electronic books and newspapers

An iTunes moment?

The growing popularity of electronic books could offer hope for newspapers

A new, sleeker version of the Kindle was unveiled

Google said it was making 1.5m free e-books available in a format suitable for
smart-phones

Amazon said it was working to make e-books available on smart-phones as well

Plastic Logic, the maker of a forthcoming e-reader device, said it had struck
distribution deals with several magazines and newspapers.

The iPhone, meanwhile, has quietly become the most widely used e-book reader:
more people have downloaded e-book software (such as Stanza, eReader and
Classics) for iPhones

if e-readers do take off, the real beneficiaries could be the ailing newspaper
and magazine publishers.

So it is not unreasonable to suppose that someone could step in, as Apple did
with music, and introduce a comprehensive and easy-to-use shopfront, through
which books, newspapers and magazines could be supplied to paying customers.