Are the airlines about to offer passengers the ability to read ebooks on the video screens embedded on the seat in front of them?

That’s what Dianna Dilworth speculates in an eBOOKNEWSER report. As she notes, “Last night I was flying on Virgin America and I was playing around on ‘Red,’ the airline’s interactive entertainment system on the back on the seat and came across a ‘Read’ button. When you push the button is says, ‘Coming soon’…

She notes it’s said that for a while now, but still, the idea makes sense.

There are a number of ways that it could work. Perhaps you could sign in to an existing Amazon or Barnes & Noble account and access your digital bookshelf directly. Or perhaps the airline could sell bestsellers or short stories directly. Think Atlantic Fiction’s monthly short stories in the Kindle store.

It could also be a great place for publishers to market their books and give away sample chapters. I like to catch up on new music videos on Virgin’s entertainment system, so why not read a couple of chapters from a few new bestsellers to decide which ones I might actually like to buy and read.

It is also a good place to read newspapers, magazines or headlines.

Of course, as she also notes, “there is something about reading books on airplanes that goes hand in hand.”