Business Insider points out some depressing numbers for Amazon’s Kindle device…

AT&T said yesterday that it activated 400,000 to 500,000 3G-enabled iPads in the U.S. last quarter.

How many Amazon Kindles and 3G-enabled Barnes & Noble Nooks did it activate?

Fewer than "roughly 900,000."

That comes from a press release from wireless carrier AT&T, which announced today that it activated "roughly 900,000 connected devices" in Q2, including the Amazon Kindle, 3G-enabled Nook, and around 850 other devices, "such as eReaders, netbooks, digital photo frames, personal navigation devices, home security monitoring and smart grid devices.

Let me say upfront that I don’t think these numbers are good.  Even if all 900,000 are Kindles that’s not a lot considering it’s prominent spot on the Amazon home page.  But at the same time if the Kindle disappears tomorrow I think it will have served it’s purpose. 

By jump starting Amazon’s digital efforts it allowed Amazon to extend its dominance into e-books and that’s a big deal.  Try this: Name the companies that have managed to beat Apple in the world of digital distribution of content. 

If you came up with a company other than Amazon you’ve thought of one more company than I have.  Apple has been on a role since the original iPod debuted.  Music, Movies, and TV have all been dominated by Apple despite the best efforts of their competitors.  But in books it’s all Amazon.

(It is beside my main point but I’d like to point out that Amazon is even dominant in audio books since iTunes uses Audible’s content and Audible is owned by Amazon)

This is important for two reasons.  First, as stated above, Amazon needs to hang on to it’s core business (printed media) when that business transitions into the digital age.  Kindle allows it to do that.

But the second reason is perhaps even more important.  This keeps Amazon in the digital game.  Amazon has not given up on its digital media aspirations and dominance in e-books makes people accustomed to buying digital content using their Amazon account.  If Amazon’s smart they’ll do everything in their power to ride Android’s success and become the dominant digital media provider for those devices.  If Amazon can become the “iTunes for everyone else” they’ll be in a very good position in the future.

So while the Kindle Device itself might fade into history Amazon will owe much of it’s future digital success to it and it that sense it may very well have saved the company as a whole.