Can the eBook be Cracked? Not so Much

if I can read my eBook at beach, Pub, Train and/or sports ground may would opt for one -- but not looks feasible in near future as it needs huge infrastructure developments.

Yeah ebooks are nice but I think in 100 years you won't be able to beat that tangible paperback.

One advantage of e-books: searchability. If they can provide that, they're more useful than paper books for anything but fiction. Traditional indexes help, but not enough.

Are we addressing this issue again, perhaps it hasn't been covered in the blog (or BW print), but ebooks have been around for probably close to a decade at this point and we're inching towards real acceptance, though it's unlikely to ever happen.

Traditional books will always have a hand over ebooks for 1 simple reason - cost.

Until ebooks can be sold for 8.95 hardware and all, and checked out from libraries (with hardware) for free - the great majority of the middle class world won't invest $200+ for a device that can be destroyed with a simple fall from 2 feet off the ground, or if it happens to get stuck in a rainshower. Add to that that the books can be sold or traded (DRM-free :) ) and the cost really drops.

For some people that $200 is a week's worth of groceries, health insurance, or half their annual property taxes. Anyone (and this includes the early iPhone adopters) that drops $500 on the newest gadget for the mere reason that it's the newest and considers the $500 not a large investment to have the newest is out of touch with the majority of the country and world.

Where eBooks have failed is marketing themselves properly to the right demographic - the tech-savvy, affluent, who already have a compatible device and the kind of spare time (and inclination) to want to read an entire Dan Brown novel or 'Getting to Yes' on their commute to work.

Probably a pretty small group - most everyone will be too busy reading their short, sweet and newsworthy RSS feeds from top news outlets (and Biz mags).