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Wee! Looks like he stirred up a virtual hornet's nest here! I too agree that he is way off the mark in stating that dedicated eBook readers will never make it. The simple fact is that while some people want to sit still and be comfortable where they're at, technology is still going to move forward.
I have to wonder what the first nay-sayers of paper said when switching from writing on animal skin... "No way man, there's no way paper's going to catch on, it's too hard to make and won't last as long as these here animal hides!" or even try imagining the shift from rock to... err, you get the idea.
I think the main sticking point (or two) really boils down to the price. Case in point, everyone saw how fast Tiger Direct sold out of the Sony Reader last year when it was offered at $100 a unit. It literally sold out within a few hours. People will buy these provided the price is right and they can get the books they want for the price they want to pay.
That is the other big issue, the pricing scheme of digital books. While we have been fairly educated time and again about how much money goes into a PB vs. an eBook, the average person is where we were at when we first posed the question of "Why are they so friggin costly compared to "real" versions?" Regardless of how schooled we've been, I still believe they shouldn't cost most than half what a PB costs or a quarter the HB version; which I'm sure that's what the lay-person thinks too. So... get the price right and it will take off like it's supposed to, just look at the whole digital-music scheme.
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