The situation isn't necessarily as bad as my essay implies. One of the commenters posted this link:<p><a href="http://www.idealog.com/blog/apples-disruption-of-the-ebook-market-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-tablet" rel="nofollow">http://www.idealog.com/blog/apples-disruption-of-the-ebook-m...</a><p>(Attention-conservation version: The major publishers have done a deal with Apple whereby they'll be selling books on an agency basis rather than the wholesale model that's got them into such trouble with Amazon et al.)<p>And then there's this:<p><a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/20/amazon_royality/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/20/amazon_royality/</a><p>(Short attention span version: Amazon is spooked.)