By Edward Nawotka

When my 15-year-old nephew, a freshman in high school, turned to me at dinner on Saturday night and asked which Kindle he should get for class — I knew the device had “tipped.” (He is choosing between a Kindle 2 for $89, having rejecting my offer to give him my Kindle 1, and a new NookColor).

But it’s not just a battle for my nephew’s dollars, it’s for yours too — and with the final two shopping weeks of the holiday season upon us, the PR smack down is on!

Today Amazon posted a statement on its community board that read:

“Thanks to you, in just the first 73 days of this holiday quarter, we’ve already sold millions of our all-new Kindles with the latest E Ink Pearl display. In fact, in the last 73 days, readers have purchased more Kindles than we sold during all of 2009. We’re grateful for and energized by the overwhelming customer response.

Thank you for being a customer,

The Kindle Team

P.S. Kindle is far and away our bestselling gift item . . .

This post, which appeared on Amazon’s E-reading community pages, went live just a few hours after B&N put out it’s owe e-mail press release proclaiming “NOOKcolor is The Hottest Gift of the Season.” Lauding several blurbs, including:

“The best dedicated e-reader” — Associated Press

“Editor’s Choice” — CNET

“Takes the concept of an e-reader to a whole new level.” — PC World

B&N’s release also notes that’s it’s booksellers “are waiting to help you try it!” — and you know what, for once, this is utterly true. Go into a B&N and the first thing you sell front and center is a booth featuring the Nook with a dedicated bookseller manning the station willing to help you out. Bravo B&N, bravo! I was so convinced by the demo, I purchased one to take with me on holiday travels.

I’ll write more extensively on the Nook and what I perceive to be B&N’s changing culture in a forthcoming post…