you can read e-books on a laptop, and you can also read them on a handheld computer (ie Palm Pilot) if you have the right software installed....

The only e-book I have is the God's Word version of the Bible for my handheld and I actually don't use it all that often, but its handy to carry around.

Not sure if I'll get into e-books - though cheaper and you don't need bookshelves for them, I look a good old fashioned book. Also, I find it difficult to read anything of length on the computer screen, and since I work on a computer all day I like to give my eyes something else to look at.