Electronic books = price pressure.
Lower prices = need to cut costs, including on layout.
No fixed page = difficulty in doing any elaborate layout (i.e. high cost).
Masses prefer lower prices than elaborate and aesthetically pleasing layout.
But who knows. Maybe there will be pre-defined recipes that would account for a number of screen sizes and font sizes and will automate elaborate layout without too much human intervention? Smart hmtl-css anyone? Or just
css zen garden for ebooks?
Actually CSS Zen Garden approach to ebooks would be awesome. A book could come in one style by default and for a small fee readers could buy other book styles for their books (with different illustrations, video, sound, formatting). Re-reading a book in a different CSS formatting could make a different experience.