There is little that was new in this essay. The national chains already are committing many of the “sins” cited here, e.g., dictating terms to publishers and authors and controlling how books are marketed and sold. Amazon will just “take that to the next level.” The only major unresolved question is whether Amazon can sweep the board, or the market resolves into a continually shifting balance of power between Amazon, the book store chains, and whoever else is still in the game. (See “1984″ and its dystopian commerce equivalent, “The Space Merchants” for examples of why stable balances of power need at least a triad of players.)

While I leave predictions to those who dare wear the title of futurist, one scenario does come to mind: Amazon decides it’s easier to buy and co-opt your enemy than to kill him. Don’t be surprised if Amazon makes an offer for Borders or Waldenbooks or Barnes & Noble or Books-a-Million. I can see the Amazon press release now: “The acquisition of X is a strategic move to leverage our considerable marketing experience and assets into the bricks-and-mortar segment of the books market. Expanding Amazon’s reach to the local point-of-sale level will allow consumers to enjoy the Amazon experience in person as well as on-line.”

This would be followed by consolidation of one or more of the remaining chains to position themselves to resist the Amazon juggernaut. Expect more moaning and bitching in the media about how all this parallels the loss of independent watchdog voices in newspapers and magazines. But unless there is an (unlikely) overwhelming public outcry that the acquisition harms competition, this will be followed by more deafening silence (or at most, politically correct lip service) from politicians and the various regulatory bodies.

At that point, the only remaining step toward complete vertical integration will be for Amazon to start directly commissioning a substantial portion of all the new titles that come to the mainstream market.