Birth of a "New Genre"?

In a recent New York Times critic's notebook piece,  Dwight Garner says he's bullish about Kindle Singles. ("Miniature E-Books Let Journalists Stretch Legs" NYT 3/7/12, p. 1) I've previously posted on this Amazon e-reader product which features pieces from 10,000 to 30,000 words which can be read on the Kindle reader or its software and sell in the $.99 to $3 range. This long form, in Garner's words has "the promise of what feels almost like a new genre: long enough for genuine complexity, short enough that you don't need journalistic stretches and fillers." Amazon, in an apparent effort to do for publishing what HBO did for TV, has hired journalist David Blum to curate the offerings. These include such pieces as "Fatal Voyage" by John Hooper and "An Unexpected Twist" by Andy Borowitz.  The Singles program hosts a wide range of fiction and essays, but long-form journalism is a standout among its offerings.  Also see Scott Steinberg's piece in Rolling Stone which has similar hopes for Singles, touting that they "May Rewrite the Rules of Publishing."  By the way, as noted in my previous post, with the proper software, you can read Kindle offerings on a range of devices including old-fashioned laptops.