I grew up in a very small town which had a tiny library and only one book store. Thanks to the internet I had access to the gutenberg library etc. and could read books on my computer which weren't available physically. So, in my experience, ebooks are a 'democratizing' element. Sometimes I think those who live in big cities forget that not all the world is the same, that many of us do not have access to good book stores.
Ebook devices are not that expensive. I am not rich, by any means, but I can afford one. My local library doesn't carry many books and if you want to read in a language other than Spanish, you are on your own, mostly. I used to spend about 100 euros a month in books and that was money I could hardly afford, but a voracious reader needs food, clothes can wait
. Since I have my prs-505, I am spending much less.