[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by v1k1ng1001

For casual reading, ebooks are fine, but for serious academic research ereaders can be a hassle, especially if you're working with a series of critical editions with endnotes and such. The key, I think, is reformatting the material to make it easier to work with but I doubt there's much incentive to do this.

Niche market, not important at the moment. But it will be, and someone will figure out how to service it well.

Originally Posted by Acousticvillage

I think therre is still room for both e and p.

Of course there is: just as books are currently available free in physical format at a library; the latest p-book bestseller at an airport; lots of titles, especially hard-to-find regional books at your local bricks-and-mortar store; and tons of p-books online ... in addition to e-books from a variety of vendors.

But the sales channels are evolving and consumer demands are forcing change: including libraries expanding e-book content and dropping physical books; and vendors selling only p-books being displaced by those selling both p-books and e-books, as well as those selling e-books alone.

Originally Posted by Acousticvillage

I don't know how an ereader entices children to read. My children look at the cover, see the thickness, even at times look at the font and size of font...and all of these factors subtly influence the decision whether to begin reading the book.

A different audience: Dr Seuss on the printed page? on a large format e-reader? on a computer or tablet? on TV?

I wouldn't worry so much: it's what happens when they reach the teens and beyond. Long form content, the ability to digest complex ideas from the printed word -- that's a skill many adults require and will acquire as they mature. Moby Dick, Great Expectations and the Constitution are equally digestible on paper and e-ink.

Originally Posted by Acousticvillage

E Readers will come into their own when they can show colour, are fully multimedia, with links to web sources for different parts of the story, for the background context, for info on the author, etc.

I completely disagree: that is a different experience, as different as a radio play is from a 3D Imax movie. There is room for both; a dedicated e-reader, or some facsimile, which is focussed on text only, has a long future. The device you are describing is not for reading, but for a different experience entirely.