The Nook - this may be your only chance to see one this year (Courtesy Spencer Platt, AP Images)

Barnes & Noble may be taking a digital page from the Kindle’s marketing book. You may remember that when the Kindle debuted in late 2007, devices were scarce. In March 2008, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the shortage. He said the demand for the e-reader was far greater than their supply. That kind of apology struck some bloggers as insincere. Was Bezos apologizing for the Kindle being too popular?

Maybe we’ll hear a similar apology from the lips of Stephen Riggio, Vice Chairman and CEO of Barnes & Noble. Shipping delays and early reports of shortages indicate the Nook will be a rare gift this holiday season. CNET’s Leslie Katz reports that only Barnes & Noble’s high-traffic stores will get a supply of Nook devices. Stores should start receiving the shipments on December 7th. Each store will only receive a few units. The company has earmarked most of the devices for customers who ordered a Nook online before November 20th. That date marks the day the 2009 supply of Nook devices sold out.

Any orders placed now will not be shipped any earlier than January 4th. If you were planning to purchase a Nook as a holiday gift (perhaps for a charismatic host of a technology podcast) you should be prepared to camp out at a high-traffic store for a while.

If you have your heart set on an e-reader but don’t have the time or desire to park your butt in front of a book store for the next few weeks, you can still purchase an Amazon Kindle. The company won’t be offering any apologies this year for shortages — there are plenty of units in stock.

Will the shortage of Nook devices hurt Barnes & Noble’s chance at competing in the e-reader market? Or will enough people line up for the device to (forgive the pun) kindle interest in the device to propel sales in 2010? And can Amazon capitalize on its position and continue to dominate? I honestly don’t know. I do know I’d love a good e-reader device so that I could purchase the entire Dresden Files series without wondering where I put the next book. Does someone have an extra copy of “White Night” I could borrow?

Learn more at HowStuffWorks.com:

How the Amazon Kindle Works
How Electronic Ink Works
How Amazon Works