[CWatkinsNash]

I come across this at least once a week, but that probably has to do with the types of books I'm looking at and is unlikely to indicate how widespread it actually is.

It's not so much a direction that Amazon has taken, it's an option they provide for publishers that either don't want their formatting to be modified or don't care to take the time / expense to have a compatible format made. "Print Replica" is the Amazon equivalent of a PDF file.

Some books actually require fixed formatting to serve their purpose, but many of the ones I see with the Print Replica designation just don't seem to be in that category.

Edited to add: I left out the reason that I think they are device-limited - large file sizes, designed for bigger (and color) screens, lack of features (can't adjust text, margins, etc) and don't perform well on e-ink devices. They don't provide the expected e-ink experience, and I think they'd rather avoid the customer service issues that would occur.