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From here.

Exactly my thinking! Imagine tomorrow's JD Salinger (R.I.P.) being published only in electronic format. Years after the technology is disabled (EMP renders electronics useless/blank; big brother activates the 'revoke' function on your e-reader because the book questions current political thinking) and the story/concept/history is lost. Talk about irony; Amazon deleted Orwell's "Animal Farm" and "1984" from Kindles after they were paid for by trusting customers. Amazon Erases Orwell Books from Kindle As I said, this is more about technology seeking money rather than improving the quality of our life. Rant over. If you want to discuss it further, write me a letter. I'm calling my mom now to make sure that our "Man walks on moon" issue of the Jamestown Post-Journal is still safely stored away...

Let me clarify... From a technology standpoint I agree they are very cool and it's nice to finally get a viable form of electronic ink that doesn't cause eye strain. From a consumer standpoint I'm not interested in the slightest. I have always found electronic documents less usable than hard copies--especially if it's a document I'm likely to reference a lot. I think the non-textual cues (smudges, a slightly torn page, knowing where I am in the book simply by holding it, etc) from the book help me organize all the information and provide shortcuts for my brain when I'm rereading it. Electronic documents remove those cues. More than that, I wouldn't buy a microwave that only cooks Kraft foods. I'm not inclined to buy ebooks that require a $200+ electronic device in order to use. (I don't buy online music that I can't burn to cd either.) Cat, do you use it primarily for leisure reading or work-related documents?

Funny. Personally I don't see the appeal of electronic readers. I guess I'm a Luddite for saying so, but I still prefer paper to ebooks for just about everything.