But, as the survey authors note, 13 percent of men and 13 percent of those under the age of 30 said they’re “comfortable reading books in other formats, such as online or with an e-book reader or PDA.”

I’m not sure whether there’s any kind of trend here, since it seems to be the first time this survey was conducted, but I’d be surprised if e-books ever become more than a niche product until the hardware is dramatically improved.

The Kindle seems decent, but I won’t be tempted to make the leap until paper-thin bendable displays go mainstream, like the newspaper in Minority Report.

Speaking of the Kindle, though, Simon & Schuster just announced today that it will make 5,000 additional e-books available for Amazon’s reader this year.

So there must be some demand out there for the technology.

Popularity: 5% [?]

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