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My early thoughts on the announcements from Barnes & Noble regarding its eBook software for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Mac/Windows and its partnership with Plastic Logic on a future eReader:

• Who releases software products on a Sunday when media aren’t paying attention? Who follows that up with a hardware announcement that doesn’t have hardware specs, a true ship date, a battery life estimate, or even a price estimate? I hope Fake Steve Jobs tears B&N marketing a new one next.
• I personally have no desire to read eBooks on a Mac or Windows computer. But, perhaps others do. At least it’s a point of differentiation in B&N’s favor.
• It doesn’t appear that B&N is offering electronic versions of magazines, newspapers, or blogs or that B&N is offering document conversion for its eReader software. Perhaps that will change with time. For now, those are points of differentiation in Amazon’s favor. (The magazines are a huge differentiator for me.)
• Amazon has more commercial eBooks than B&N, but I suspect that B&N has the commercial eBooks most readers care about. And, B&N can probably scale up its eOfferings quickly as Amazon has. I don’t view this as a big deal either way.
• I personally like the small size of the Kindle 2 versus the Kindle DX. It sounds like the 8.5 x 11-inch Plastic Logic device will be DX-sized. That means customers looking for a smaller device (and perhaps also those looking for a cheaper device) may opt for a Kindle 2 over Plastic Logic.
• Amazon will have over a two-year head start when Plastic Logic ships in early 2010. A great product that is well marketed could overcome that lead. But, with no product details and no real marketing effort yet, it is too early to know how the Plastic Logic product will go over. But, B&N has tried eBooks before.
• Barnes & Noble has almost 800 stores in the U.S., which could be a huge advantage for Plastic Logic over Amazon. Potential Plastic Logic buyers will be able to take test drives in stores, buy the product there, get training there, and return unwanted or defective product there. As I have said before, I think Amazon should sell Kindles at Best Buy and other electronics stores. Anytime I show my Kindle 2 to someone who hasn’t used one, they are amazed by it.
• Overall, I don’t think Amazon shouldn’t be too worried by B&N and Plastic Logic. The existing Kindle userbase, existing Kindle mindshare, powerful Amazon brand, the multiple Kindle size offerings, and the Kindle’s support for publications and files will be a lot for B&N to overcome anytime soon. And, who knows what Amazon may do with Kindle by early of 2010?