Who said eBooks were dead? Bookseller Barnes & Noble just launched a dedicated ebookstore and while it may not be the perfect venue to promote products and service for Web professionals, it may just signal the return of the ebook as a valid content publishing format.

B&N customers will be able to buy eBooks and read them on numerous platforms including the iPhone and iPod touch (which consequently is the number one most download book app), BlackBerry smartphones and Windws and Mac computers (laptops and desktops). Barnes and Noble also announced today that it will be the exclusive eBookstore provider on the upcoming Plastic Logic eReader device – which will in turn power the eBookstore for the Plastic Logic eReader device. The wireless eReader is slated to debut in early 2010.

How important is this development? Over 700,000 titles will be available immediately, making the new service the World Wide Web’s largest collection of eBooks available in one place. In fact, more than 500,000 public domain books (from Google) are available for free download.

"Today marks the first phase of our digital strategy, which is rooted in the belief that readers should have access to the books in their digital library from any device, from anywhere, at any time," said William J. Lynch, President of BN.com. "As America's #1 bookstore and newsstand, our goal at Barnes & Noble is to build a service that revolves around the customer, enabling them to have access to hundreds of thousands of titles and read on their smartphone, PC, and many other existing and future devices. We want to make eBooks simple, accessible, affordable and convenient for everyone."