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Color is certainly an option with bestselling authors like Danielle Steele, Stephen King, John Grisham, etc., but it's rarely used. Apparently it isn't worth the added expense, minimal though it would be for those print runs. Who needs color chapter titles? The only ones I've seen, on ebooks for PCs, have been a hideous blue that I would pay extra to have in black.
As for "serious reading" I think there's some confusion between "serious reading" and "serious readers." Certainly most fiction reading is for entertainment, and most of it is trivial, but a "serious reader" reads a lot of it. In this sense, the word "serious" doesn't mean "grim and weighty" but "someone who does a lot of something."
Color is much more important in non-fiction, especially textbooks, for graphs and charts and illustrations and such, than in most fiction reading. Any sort of ereading device for the education market has to address that.
I've played a bit with iPads but I've yet to find a single function I want in that form factor, let alone one that I'd pay $500 or more for. I like GPS, but I only need it in my car, where I have it. I prefer typing at a real, not virtual keyboard (and don't even like Apple's "Chiclet" keyboards), which I have on my desktop pc and netbook. Ereading is nice, but I prefer my Kobo. TV...give me a big screen and a kickass sound system, please. Music...my iPod fits in my pocket. Games...don't play 'em. Photos...okay, I need to put a picture of my dog in my wallet, you got me on that one.
I'm glad that people love their iPads and do whatever they do with them, but speaking for myself only, I don't even want one.
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