E-Readers: Why would I want one?

So you've got an e-reader, an android tablet, or an iPad.  Or maybe you've got them all, not to mention phones with Kindle or Nook software or other e-reader software. Tsk tsk. What to do? Which device should I read "War and Peace" on?  

Glad I don't have to decide which electronic device I don't want to use. I just read a book. It's portable, arguably lightweight, never needs recharging. I can throw it down in anger or toss it across the room derisively, write in the margins, and when I decide, throw it away. Just by feel I can tell how far I am into a book and how much further I need to go.  I can lend a book out for as long as I want, give it away, resell it if I like and not break any laws. You can see all the books I've read on display on my bookshelves kept by genre and in alphabetical order by author. And I can find a book rapidly without scrolling through pages of titles.

Speaking of pages, if I tear a page or the cover comes off I have scotch tape. I have books that are more than 50 years old and I can still read them because the format hasn't changed, nor are there any upgrades that I've missed as there is no outmoded operating system and I'm pretty sure there is no battery that will suddenly go dead. What will e-readers look like in 50 years? Will you be able to reread that book you read so long ago? Or will you have to BUY another copy to match that new software or device you were forced to upgrade to?  Or maybe they will be loading books and other written material into the chip they placed in your body to control everything you do so that you can read when your eyes are shut. I can envision now: "The iShut reader from Apple! Download it to your brain now. $999.99" 

Of course there are those who will say I am not green that I am environmentally retrograde, a dinosaur, not with the program, a killer of trees. (Perhaps, though I can't recall ever personally killing a tree.)  But I am not using electric which is supplied by the electric companies burning coal, a fossil fuel. I am not dumping my broken, unused or outmoded devices in landfills with batteries that may or may not contain mercury but are devices that definitely contain metals that are poisonous to the environment.  And I am not making Apple any more richer than they already are. OK so occasionally I use iTunes. But most are free podcasts and the digital music I sometimes have to BUY to replace the records I can no longer play (sigh) . . .  Happy reading!