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I think you guys are missing the point. eReaders are a complete game changer all the way up the supply chain. It's same as in the music business. Publishing houses exist, and the publishing process is the way it is today simply because printing up thousands or millions of copies of a paper book takes a lot of resources and money.
Distributing ebooks costs almost nothing, and takes very little in the way of resources. Once the number of eReaders out there hits a critical mass, and with the new wave of cheapo devices like the Kobo reader that is going to be sooner rather than later, authors are going to realize that they are better off self-publishing ebooks only than sharing their sales receipts with a publishing house.
And the first time someone like Stephen King or John Grisham kicks their publisher to curb and sells millions of ecopies of a new book for $4.99 and gets to keep $4.00 of each sale for themselves instead of the 50 cents they'd get for each paperback sold, then it's over for the publishing houses.
And then it's over for the publishing houses, and then it's over for paper because there won't be anyone left who can print books any more.
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