FWIW, I'm not completely sold on e-readers, but I may be getting one for my Mom this year or next (just because they can magnify text).
If/when there are decent numbers of RPG titles I want- as well as sheet music- I'll get one for me as well.
But I'll still be buying the paper versions preferentially. The e-versions would be for portability & backup, not for use at the table.
Besides... Paper is an industry that needs to die. Even the recycling of it is environmentally toxic. It wastes epic amounts of water and dumps toxins into the watershed and groundwater at a prodigious rate. Water cycle is a bit of a mess as it is, and paper is making a lot of otherwise great fresh water unusable.
While its true that the paper industry is pretty toxic- usually ranked as the #2 polluter in Texas, right behind the Big Oil/petrochemical industries- there remains one thing that paper does extremely well that electronics may never match: Endure.
We have texts that last hundreds and even thousands of years, and while modern paper isn't as durable, its still going to last many decades. As long as some human can read the language, its accessible. As long as there is light, they can be read, even in the absence of electrical power.
Electronic documents have inherent durability issues:
1) They depend on a power source to read. Energy, as yet, is not generally clean- remember what I said about Big Oil? And even when energy is stored in battery form, there are issues, such as how to dispose of expired batteries. Even "green" energy methods depend on (you got it) plastics from the petrochemical industry, as well as mined and refined metals. Ever see a copper, gold, or platinum mine? Not exactly eco-friendly. Just like paper & Big Oil, the ore mining/refining industries also dump huge amounts of toxins into the environment, as well as contribute to soil erosion and other hazards.
And besides...120v or 220v?
2) They depend on software to convert bits into forms readable to humans, meaning that if software changes, data may be lost. They also depend on specific hardware, which, again, may cause data to be lost when formats change.
Example: as yet, I still have reel-to-reels, cassettes, and LPs that never got converted into CD form...and if/when non-physical music platforms like MP3s (and beyond) become the dominant form (if they aren't already), more recorded music will be lost. Ditto my VCR tapes vis a vis DVDs. Some of that stuff is simply not commercially available.
(For the record, I still have a few VHS, cassette & turntable devices, but had to get rid of my reel-to-reel.)
3) They are supported by hardware that is largely made of plastics and other high-tech materials (including the aforementioned refined metals)...IOW, arguably more toxic and hazardous than paper.
Which format, as a whole, is more toxic? I honestly don't know.
I just know its not a black & white issue.
