Not a great analogy. The designed use-case for a book is to be held in your hands and read. Whereas burning is almost never desired, generally only happens if something goes awry.
Given that two-hand holding is the norm for paper books I would say single-hand holding isn't a terribly important spec for an e-reader. Maybe it's desirable for some, maybe not. I would definitely give up a little bit of single-hand holdability for a larger screen, someone in thread above pointed out the 8" Bookeen Cybook Ocean, which at $180 looks like a good Kindle alternative:
http://www.bookeen.com/en/cybook-ocean
Short of large hardcover books, I can't say I've ever read two-handed. Perhaps I have larger than normal hands. but every book I've ever owned (and most books I've checked out from various libraries) I read one handed.
I object greatly, and think that single handed holding is an extremely important spec. Far more important than some silly touch-screen.
But like books, we are all different. So I hope you enjoy your e-reader however you choose to read it.
I think that was the point of the analogy -- to illustrate how silly it is to compare the two based on that. They are different mediums. Books are books, and ebooks are ebooks.
Given that two-hand holding is the norm for paper books I would say single-hand holding isn't a terribly important spec for an e-reader. Maybe it's desirable for some, maybe not. I would definitely give up a little bit of single-hand holdability for a larger screen, someone in thread above pointed out the 8" Bookeen Cybook Ocean, which at $180 looks like a good Kindle alternative: http://www.bookeen.com/en/cybook-ocean