[Alisa]

I think there are few things that will take them out of the niche but price is definitely a big one. I think as the hardware improves, they'll become a lot more compelling. Only a hard core book fan is going to pay $300-$400 for a dedicated black and white 6" reader. Screen technology will improve. In a few years we may have color devices that are fast enough to replace LCDs and still have the readability of electronic ink. When that happens, tons of people will have them, even people who only read books occasionally. At that point, you will likely see a lot more periodicals go electronic. At some point along that road I think you'll also see them becoming a standard academic tool. When every kid in school has one, that will make a huge change. If they grow up reading on a device, they likely won't have that emotional attachment to paper that some of the folks in that article seem to think is universal and irrevocable.

Oh, and I have to agree with Taylor514ce here. That article should be linked, not copied whole. The site that's from deserves the page views.