[acabal]

I see them as exactly that, dedicated reading devices. Tablets are great for some folks, but others like ereaders because:

-E-ink can be stared at for long periods and in bright light; staring at a tablet screen for long periods gives many (including me) eye strain.

-Tablets usually include many other apps and internet access, which is a huge distraction when you just want to focus on reading a book. When I'm reading, I prefer to just read.

-Good tablets are much more expensive, so people might hesitate to drag them all over the place like they would a paperback.

The technology is already pretty cheap to produce, and I imagine big players like Amazon, BN, Kobo, etc. will eventually just sell them for a token few bucks and make up the remainder in walled-garden sales.

In the end their usefulness depends on what kind of reader you are. If you read for just 30 minutes a day, then a tablet will probably be fine for you. If you spend hours with a book, a dedicated reader is nice just for the e-ink.

[dougk16]

Much longer effective battery life is also a huge deal for me personally.

[ajtaylor]

For me it's all these things, but most especially the massive difference in battery life. Even on the best tablets you might get around 10 hours of usage. On my old Aztak EZReader Pocket Pro I can easily read 2 Game of Thrones books (~2k pages) on a single charge.