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When the Palm PDAs came out in color, they featured built-in rechargeable batteries. I haven't gone that route myself, though I have been tempted by the T|X. Customers seemed satisfied to keep the device on a charging cradle when it wasn't in use.
For those for whom long battery life is important, there would be USB eInk dumbscreens. For those who want backlit screens or wireless, there would be a charging cradle or more capacious batteries.
Open standards, plug 'n play and modularity allow many devices to interoperate. It also drives down prices by tempting more manufacturers to participate in creating peripherals. We are also approaching the day when rapid-charge capacitor storage will be practical for handhelds, giving us practically instant recharges, long battery life and many more recharge cycles. Convergence is another factor that makes modularity more attractive. When your reader is also your handheld PDA and your desktop machine too, the ability to connect to different screens, keyboards, pointing devices, storage, network adapters and printers will be very useful.
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