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I don't think electronic paper is Already Doomed.
IMO it's a mistake to assume that the only way to make money with e-books is with mass appeal. Since most people only buy a handful of books a year, the real "meat" to the market is with the small number of people who purchase a large volume of books. These are the people who will not find that a backlit LCD device with a 6-hour battery life, that constantly buzzes with incoming text messages, emails and phone calls, do not meet their needs.
I.e. if you offer a superior reading experience via electronic paper, the die-hard readers who buy most of the books anyway will continue to use electronic paper-based readers (or its descendents).
As to the advantages of multifunction devices.... Keep in mind that the iPod still has significant sales; e.g. in Q1 2009, 22.73 million iPods sold, compared to 4.36 million iPhones. Multifunction might get a lot of attention, but devices with a narrower focus often have multiple advantages.
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