Waterstones' move suggests to me that booksellers must assimilate or die; better a small piece of e-readers and e-book sales by getting in bed with behemoths like Amazon or wither away through a slow, painful (read: debt-ridden) death. Small booksellers without the muscle or volume to negotiate with e-merchants such as Amazon have other alternatives certainly (and I won't name names), but the returns are so pitiful, it's like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Soldier on we must, but booksellers who are pragmatic and less idealistic, I imagine, will no doubt be gazing into their murky crystal balls and, unlike the coalition government, be mulling over Plan B.
Read article about Waterstones and Amazon deal here:
http://www.economist.com/node/21555969