Page references are essential only when there is no other way to search data. Page number correlate to indices and 'bookmarks' and exist only because there is no other way to navigate a book. When I was an apprentice machinist, we used something called Machinery's Handbook. Machinery's Handbook is nearly 3,000 pages of essential information. Finding something in it was a chore -- even searching the index was a learned skill. There were some blank pages at the front. When I found something useful, I noted the page and topic in pencie -- my own updatable index.
That was a generation ago. I haven't opened that book in decades. Today, if I want a nominal size or to calculate thread pitch, I have google. In the future, e-books will be indexed in ways that facilitate locating data and correlating content to a syllabus. Students will preview, learn, and review a lesson as the instructor intended integrating text, video, interactive excercises, and lectures. This is all pretty trivial stuff. I think it will be difficult for publishers to wrap their heads around this, but colleges are already assembling opensource curriculums and I expect them to sieze upon the value of rich presentations.
Let's not worry much about
these guys.