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I understand why some folks may want to shop in a physical bookstore and then buy the ebook, but that purchase could just involve emailing you a download link. There's no reason it has to involve physical media. If your device can connect to a network and synch, you wouldn't even need to do that. Turn on the wireless and there's your book. I think most technophobic people would prefer that to SD cards. I'd be annoyed having to swap out the card for every book I wanted to read. The wallet full of cards would be another thing I'd have to carry around, more clutter in my house, and more resources being wasted. No thanks.
The only real advantages I see here are the abilities to resell the book or possibly send it overseas. Even with reselling, that is something that could be allowed in DRM without the need for physical media. So I could see a niche for a retailer that wants to sell around the geographical restrictions. Of course international shipping tends to be prohibitive so that might not go so well. Besides, it seems likely that settling the international rights will become more important as ebooks gain ground. I wouldn't be surprised if geographical restrictions are a non-issue in a few years. I can't see enough call for this to support the cost of implementing it in your average bookstore, even a big chain.
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