Lines for the New iPhone and the Rise of the Nook

That basically says it all, people. Sounds like the title of an epic fantasy, doesn't it?

I'm tellin' you, the digital age is upon us. Technology is blazing with all guns cocked and loaded. Make no mistake, our classic paper warriors (metaphor translation: hardcover/paperback books) will still be around, but the wave of the future is in our faces! They're big tanks with turret weapons and flamethrowers, man! (overboard on the metaphor stuff)

I'm referring to another trip I made to the mall. You see, I from time to time like to make those kinds of trips. Yes, I'm a man. And men generally aren't known for their ability to go shop at the mall--

Of course, watch the movie "Mallrats", and you'd might second guess the unfortunate stereotype, but.... I digress....

Back to my point--it is this--

I make a trip to Barnes & Noble, and what do I see? A separate, glammed-up kiosk right in the store for B&N's dedicated e-reader to challenge all e-readers, the ever-fabulous nook. For the first time, I saw it. In my hands.

Recall my other recent post about the opportunity I had to sample the iPad. Let me tell you folks, the iPad is the king of cool, but the "nook" is the tower of power, and this tower ain't leanin' for nobody. Word. Such a fabulous device, the "nook" is....

And that's not all--right in the middle of the mall by an Apple store I see a long line curved by poles strung together by rope. Tons of people. You know what they were waiting for?

THE NEW iPHONE.

Of all things, that's what these people were waiting for. A freakin' iPhone. I think it's called the "iPhone 4", or something like that. Not sure what it means.

I am sure that it means this--that technology is on the warpath. And books are the conquest of a lifetime (at least for those people not constantly glued to the boob tube).