The numbers are in, and it looks like the North Pole may need to kidnap Bill Gates or Steve Jobs to keep up with the demand for electronic gadgets. I think one of the reasons i pods and e-books make such great gifts is because they can serve such a diverse range of interests. You can listen to Frank Sinatra or Frank Zappa, and on the same device. You can read John Updike or J.K Rowling. In a way, it’s the gift of choice.

The UK’s John Lewis, a bellwether for the retail industry, reported that their fastest selling item this Christmas season was the Apple iPod Nano. Trailing closely behind were penguin torches, digital cameras, eframes, satellite navigation systems, DVD players and e books.

Also, Random House is adding 7,000 additional e books to its range because the kindle reader has helped improve sales. Matt Shatz, Random House’s vice president for digital operations, says e book sales have increased by triple digit percentages in 2008.

All I know, is that I would love to see a crowd of kids as giddy over the latest e book as over the latest i phone.

Could technology make literature more accessible, more in demand, and most importantly,

cooler?