Paper is just more useful for certain things that what readers can currently do (or may ever do)--though a lot of that is personal preference. Readers and gadgets can be used for pretty much everything, it's just a matter of which is more comfortable and efficient for a person based on their preferences.
I'm sounding like a broken record as I've said this multiple times--but in my academic work I prefer printing out double sided copies of journal articles related to my research (and in journals I don't subscribe too). I find it much easier to flip through them, write notes in the margins, highlight things, be able to compare several side by side on my desk to look at results tables and compare them etc. etc. It's hard for me to see a gadget that I'd
personally be able to do all that as quickly and easily. Tablet pc like devices come close, but I find it hard to write small and neatly on those which makes it tough to write in the margins etc. (especially with my terrible penmanship).
So I just don't see myself getting away from the practice. I like my filing cabinet of well organized articles that are marked up and flagged and can be spread across my desk etc. But I see how others are fine with some like the iRex for reading and marking up such documents. I'd never try to push paper on them, I just wish some of the e-reader advocates weren't so pushy toward those who prefer paper. I keep most permanently and the ones I don't I recycle--so I'm doing minimal environmental harm (and as I said in another thread I more than offset that by not having kids and contributing to overpopulation).
Some people are comfortable with ereaders or only reading and marking up PDFs on their pc/laptops--I have colleagues that mainly work that way. Myself and others work differently and find we work more quickly with printouts. To each their own.
Now for leisure reading, I love e-readers. Their great for reading anything that I don't need to highlight, write in the margins etc. The reading is the same and I'm saving money and not filling my house with books I'll never read again, and it's more convenient than going to the library.
E-readers are a great invention IMO, but they're just not going to replace paper for
some tasks for
some people, and there's nothing wrong with that. As with any technology it's up to the individual to decide how (or whether) it is useful to them. And as such there's no need for some e-reader enthusiasts to be so pushy toward people who prefer paper for some task--even on a site that caters to the most hardcore ereader nerds.
