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Yes, this whole "It should be/look/feel/act more like a book" thing confuses me. The first widely available e-ink reader, the Sony PRS-500, was a truly revolutionary device because, for the first time, we had a device we could treat as if it were a book in terms of its basic function, but with which we could read any book (with a little work to get it on the device).
For me, the central purpose of an e-reader is to allow me to read text when and where I want without having to think about the device itself. This is why battery life and a screen that be easily read in any light is so important. I also want it to ONLY be for reading text for many reasons. But, beyond those functional requirements, I'm certainly open to change and innovation.
E-ink readers are functionally far superior to paper books for reading. The latest batch of readers is far more functional than the PRS-500. The next generation, if there is one, will hopefully be more functional than this one. Except for the fact that they display text in an easily readable format without distractions, e-ink readers are not, nor ever have been, anything like a paper book. I find it very amusing, for example, that there are so many complaints about the latest Amazon case for the Voyage simply because it doesn't "open like a book" but flips open. Why in the world should a case for an electronic device "open like a book" simply because that device is used to read text? It reminds me of the original IBM PC keyboard that was made to mimic the keyboard of a Selectric typewriter, or the original electric light fixtures that were made to resemble gas fixtures simply because that was what people were used to. Both designs were soon abandoned.
We use what works best for us to accomplish the task. The paradigm of a paper folio, or a scroll, has no actual relevance at all to an electronic reading device.
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