Lots of coverage today about Amazon's results in the last quarter of 2010. The online retailer achieved a significant landmark in the USA, where sales of e-books overtook paperback sales for the first time. Regular readers will no doubt remember that e-books overtook hardback sales last summer.

Amazon had been predicting this would happen by Q2 this year, but on the back of mega-sales of its latest generation Kindle (which has now usurped Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as its all-time top seller), as it turns out this has happened a bit earlier than expected.

This news is significant and important for all in book publishing and printing, of course. But while  bracing myself for a further flurry of 'death of the book' articles, I must also draw attention to this quote from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who while lauding the e-book and Kindle landmarks, added "...and it's on top of continued growth in paperback sales."