I got converted to e-books over p-books when I had a netbook, actually, which was a quite serviceable reader in form factor (for a big mammal like me) and screen dynamics (great matte finish, handy brightness controls). My reasons weren't secret, guilty, or otherwise odd, though a degree of minimalism certainly played into it. P-books are heavy, voluminous, and take time to acquire. E-books are easier to carry, maintain, find, and certainly easier to move. I also found e-reading more immersive, as both the time and motions required to refresh a LCD screen are less than turning pages, and I could set font and column width (via margins) to my own ideal standard.
Both as po' folk and as someone who prefers fewer gadgets to more, I couldn't justify a dedicated e-reader, particularly when most were $200+. I also found I liked a backlit LCD for night reading, which is most of my reading, as well as the fast refresh and overall flexibility. I said then that e-books would really explode when we saw more "convergence devices" on the market, with the form factor of an e-reader and the capabilities of a smartphone. Well, if you look to the left, you'll see I have a Nook Color
I guess my not-so-secret reasons for finally buying something marketed as an e-reader were the Swiss-army-knife factor and the hackability of this particular device. Having a capable and comfortable reading device really was my priority, but I would still have gone for something like a netbook if the new tablets, and particularly this reading-optimized tablet, weren't available. In addition to being broadly media-capable and having actual games, the NC is a great platform for playing with Android itself, with the extensive modding community and the flexibility of the hardware configuration.
With the faster refresh, longer battery life, and more robust OSes and hardware of the newest models, e-ink readers are just now reaching a bang-to-buck ratio where I would consider one, but even the new Nook Touch wouldn't be as much fun to tinker with as my NC. It's like the Honda Civic of the tablet world--"Ima drop that six inches and put on a rear spoiler, because I can."
