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Personally, I think this takes us back to the iPod->iTunes->iTMS model, imperfectly emulated by Sony's Reader->ConnSOFT->ConnSTORE. Marketed and delivered as a package, that's about as frictionless as it gets.
Sadly, it promotes vendor lock-in. Keep in mind, I'm talking about the mass market here. That market requires a model that goes no further than "Plug this in here, Click that, and go read the book."
It's also completely dependent on the vendor moving quickly and smoothly with the content providers. That can be difficult. One idea would be if Sony found a way to incorporate sub-stores into ConnSTORE, in the same way that Amazon hosts entire sub-sites for some online retailers. Imagine being able to pull from the "Fictionwise" section on ConnSTORE, in Sony-friendly format. Click-click-zip, and you're reading on the Sony.
But how to replicate that for all the PDAs, smart phones, UMPCs, and other dedicated reader units? How do you make it that frictionless when one company doesn't have all three pieces under its control. You'd need a device-configurable iTunes-like program that could support multiple content providers. I'm not sure I see how the market can prod the development of something like that.
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