You're very traditional. And in 10 years, you'll have forgotten all about the smell of books and the antiquated notion that they should be put on a shelf so others, by observing the spine of a book, can admire your intellect. It'll be like cars replacing horses, TV replacing radio, computers replacing typewriters. It's already here, but Apple is going to hook up the jumper cables and bring it to life. Critical mass will be achieved. Devices like this (and there will be more) will be far more than a toy.
As far as textbooks, all of the skeptics are missing the big picture---it won't matter if a big publisher wants to continue to make big profits on ebooks, because the authors can create the book themselves without the publisher--liberation is at hand. They don't need massive centralized graphics-printing-binding-shipping operations or in-house review panels or sales staffs. That's kind of the Soviet / McGraw-Hill model. Dead, but still walking around.
Look for brand new publishing houses, where getting the books compiled, reviewed, approved and distributed will be markedly easier and faster than it is now. Look for new, elegant multi-media software pointed towards integrated "book" development for non-publishers (absolutely not from Adobe, who never got the UI concept of ease of use from Aldus Pagemaker or Ready-Set-Go, and are too feature-itis oriented).
Don't be afraid. Enjoy the ride.
