I agree that proprietary formats can be very limiting. But "ebook" doesn't necessarily mean the Kindle. You can get PDF-format ebooks on your computer now, and the Sony Reader can display PDF files. At the moment, it doesn't format them real well, but there's a converter program for the Sony. I can buy e-book versions of textbooks now, I think, actually.
Couple that with cheap printers and printer connections, and you can print out anything important. Last quarter, I had a math textbook that was 4-5 inches thick, with 4-5 pages of practice problems for every page of useful information. It made it very difficult to go back and find specific formulas. Something more editable/selectively printable would have been very useful.
PJ
"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed.
He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement."
"You can say that again," she told him.
"I have a...."
"Oh, shut up."
--Stardust, Caroline K
| 
