Fiction

I can still easily use data files from back in 8-track days. Plus, we geeks will always write converters 'cause it's entertaining and if there's a bit of a market out for them, there will be software available to non-geeks to handle it. There are any number of smaller programs and a lesser number of bigger ones for converting about any music format in the history of digital music files into any other one. I don't think e-books will be any different.

And as a bonus, I can email a book as an attachment to my daughter in Minneapolis. Even at media rate, mailing physical books is more trouble.

I guess my point is: for general reading, there are really no particular downsides to an e-reader if it fits the way you use books. And there are no particular downsides to a physical book if it fits the way you use books. Ain't nothin' holy about either one beyond what value the individual reader puts on it.

If you like the feel of the paper pages or the heft of a book, go physical. If you like the lighter weight and more flexible visual presentation, go e-book. If you have long drives, go audio book. If you are like me, and are really only interested in the transfer of text from the author's brain to yours, use all three. To misquote Crowley, "Read as thou wilt is the whole of the law."