Here comes the retail e-reader showdown: Best Buy to stock Amazon's Kindle

Comparing e-reader devices in real life settings hasn't exactly been easy, but that's abo

ut to change pronto. Best Buy said Thursday it will stock the Amazon Kindle this fall. The move sets up a holiday retail showdown with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Sony.

What's the big deal? Best Buy will now have the Kindle, Sony's Reader line-up and Barnes & Noble's nook in one place. Simply put, it'll be a lot easier to figure out if Sony's touch screen is more important to you than Kindle's price and connectivity.

And the real question is this: How many folks will check out e-readers and then wander over to Best Buy's Apple iPad display.

This demo bake-off will be welcome for the holiday season. To compare e-readers before you'd have to go to Best Buy to check out the nook and Sony Readers and then go to Target to see the Kindle. It's a lot of work.

Best Buy said in a statement that it will be "the only retailer to carry all of the top e-reader brands in-store."

In any case, Best Buy's move is a positive development. You can try before you buy and better compare prices and features.

More:

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• Sony's latest e-readers: Understanding the trade-offs and global strategy
• Amazon unveils new Kindle; Assessing the e-reader fallout
• Review: My 20 minutes with Amazon's latest Kindle
• Kindle vs. Nook: The price war is on; E-reader shipments to surge?
• Borders fires back at Amazon and B&N with $99 ebook reader and color options
• Barnes & Noble: Nook, e-book sales accelerating
• Amazon Kindle; stacking it up with B&N, Borders, and Sony
• The latest on e-books and e-readers