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The libprs500 embedded fonts are any fonts you want, so they look better because they are displayed differently from the built-in fonts. I find the built-in fonts to be just fine, but then I also don't find that the contrast on my 500 is an issue.
On the "will this technology catch on" front, there are several issues that we who love the devices need to push to the forefront of any discussion:
1) the ability to have several books with us at once to satisfy changing moods/tastes at any given moment -- when I used to go on vacation I would always take the current book I was ready, a book about music (I'm a professional musician) in case the whim took me to read more on the subject, a book of non-fiction and a second fiction book in case I finished my current book. 4 books, no matter what sort of book take up much more space in a suitcase or a backpack or handbag than a single Reader takes;
2) there is a huge library of wonderful books, both fiction and non-fiction, on all sorts of subjects which are ONLY available electronically. I'm talking about the vast majority of the books from Project Gutenberg as well as other on-line sites such as manybooks.net and silkpagoda.com (the BlackMask DVD). I can't begin to count the books I've already read as well as those in the queue for future reading that just aren't available in printed versions anymore. That doesn't mean they're not worth reading, just that publishers feel they can't make any money from them anymore so they won't bother to print them. I never would have found Anna Katherine Green's fine novels nor the wonderfully fun Reggie Fortune stories by H.C. Bailey (no relation), and buying the complete library of Wilkie Collins in print would not only cost a lot it would demand I build a new wing to my house to store them along with all the Dickens and Walter Scott and many other prolific writers of the past. The reader helps make reading all those unavailable books actually as enjoyable as reading a paper book, and I can flit from book to book to book as the mood strikes.
3) price not being an issue, since most e-books are the same or cheaper than their printed cousins for current releases, the environmental impact of reducing the need for paper could be huge (assuming the ebook readers do catch on);
4) time to release a book can be significantly reduced -- prepare the text, put into electronic format, plaster the electronic channels with advertising (imagine how many sales could be generated if publishers would advertise right here on this forum!) and a book could be in the public's hands in a few weeks, instead of the sometimes up to a year delay currently occuring in the publishing industry.
There is much to be positive about in this medium, and the newer generation (the 505) may well have already solved your complaints about contrast and font clarity.
So don't give up -- it's still in its infancy, but with the Sony500 and 505 and now with the Kindle and the cybook, it has made a huge leap forward from the older versions which were much more like holding a heavy hard-bound book and were harsher on the eyes.
As with any new technology, we who are early-adopters need to be prosletyzers to get more converts so the corporations (who, after all, are in business to make money) can see there is a growing market.
And be sure to contact all your favorite authors AND their publishers and encourage them to bring out Sony versions of their books, and then BUY them to back up your requests. Authors and publishers, just like electronic manufacturers, are in business to make money, so as long as they can see there is money to be made they'll pursue (albeit at a glacially slow pace) new things.
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