Today Adobe released the first official version of Digital Editions, a lightweight Flex based RIA for reading digital e-books and PDF files. Available from Adobe as a free download, Digital Editions allows Windows and Mac users to read digital books from sites that sell them. There is a sample library available where you can find books from Adobe.

As with all new platforms, content is going to drive adoption, and right now the content is a bit light. I'm not sure what I'm looking for in terms of e-books, but I didn't find it in the library. I think that magazines could be a good place to start, I'm not sure that I'm ready to give up a full book and read it on my computer instead. But I'm often bringing magazines with me on the plane to read, and having a bunch of them available to me on long flights would be very useful.

People have been saying this space will take off for a number of years now. We'll have to wait and see what happens with Digital Editions, but if it can be the iTunes for e-books, and Sony can create the iPod for books, then maybe this dream will finally become a reality.