I think there will always be room for e-ink. This afternoon, I took an hour off to sit on the balcony and read a bit. It was so bright outside that I was barely able to read anything on the iPad. Switched to the Kindle, worked perfectly well.

I think it's a technology that fills a niche that LCDs or OLEDs won't fill for a very long time, if ever.

People have been experimenting with electrowetting and optional backlights. The results are encouraging - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/8610962.s...

EDIT: Something more recent - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag4HGceyVik . The colours seem to be lacking contrast but I'm sure that'll be improved as better filters are developed.

Mirasol and the like seem to be providing quite a good compromise - http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/01/01/review-kyobo-mi... That particular reader has the problem of not being as polished as the Kindle but it seems that the screen is rising up to the expectations.

I don't think so. Tablets are for people that want to get the most possibilities out of their $300. e-ink readers are for people with $300 that want to read books with the least eyestrain. I read on my phone and it just doesn't feel like reading. When I use my Kindle, it does.

(I think the problem is actually with page turns rather than the pixels; turning pages on the Kindle Android app is very flaky. On the physical hardware, it works much better.)