Today we have what could be a watershed event for the entire e-reader industry. It appears that, as of yesterday, the Kindle version of Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" was outselling the Amazon hardcover. Steve from Kindle Nation Daily predicted the occurrence, and he appears to have been right.

If you look at the sales rankings for the "Mysteries and Thrillers" section of the Amazon store, you'll find both types of sale listed separately. Yesterday at 10:30 A.M., the Kindle was in first place. Today, the same is true. The Kindle edition has spent the last two days in the top 100, and it shows no signs of slowing. This is a very impressive achievement for the Kindle, Dan Brown is one of the best selling authors in the country.

What would be really interesting is to see which of those customers purchased it for their Kindle, and which just wanted the electronic version for another purpose/reader. Whoever they were purchased for, the money all goes to Amazon. E-reader technology is getting more lucrative each day. It'll be interesting to see who the next big company to succumb to the allure of all that money is. Most people seem to be hopeful that it will be Apple.

I think it's pretty clear now that e-reader technology isn't the flash fad some people thought it would be. While the Kindle may not yet be quite ready for major mainstream adoption, other companies are getting closer. Asus is preparing to launch a very inexpensive dual-screened reader, which could be the device that finally sets off a spark.