very interesting article, ficbot, thanks for sharing it. good timing, too ; i recently showed my own reader to a (grownup
) friend. she loves books (as objects) and was initially quite resistant to the idea although within 5 minutes she started to come around, thinking about having several books with her at all times, as long as no-one tries to make her give up her paper books... but she mentioned that in her opinion, people "her age" (she's about 50) won't be interested in such devices (well, i think she's wrong, but that's her opinion anyway) but the real market for these devices is children ; they grow up with technology so they won't have the same resistance she envisions for her generation. but, as you said, and as she also pointed out, there have to be children's books available as well, or the whole idea is pointless.
i think there really is a market for children's ebooks and i wonder if anyone has any plans for it ? definitely something to look out for.