Let's make an assumption: DRM for e-books will perish. It hasn't worked for any other media, not a stretch to say it'll die here too. One way to hasten the death of DRM for books is to have a device that practically gets rid of two pieces of language: "DRM" and "e-book". A good tablet like the imagined and hopefully forthcoming Apple iSlate makes DRM look ridiculous because you're browsing the web as easily as watching a movie, DRM is the odd thing out, the thing that doesn't belong. Second term that expires: "e-book". What the hell is an e-book? Just because something was printed on paper originally, and you're reading it on a screen, that makes it an e-book? Do I read an e-newspaper every morning? Reference the e-encyclopedia or visit the e-library? The term itself "e-book" demonstrates how backward the form is. And what is that form? Well, it's like the web, but it's prettier, might be more interesting to read in larger chunks rather than smaller bits. It could be web consumed, it might be consumed in special software like a PDF or a video or a piece of music, either way, it's not a goddamn book anymore. A good tablet is going to make this bizarre artificial distinction between digital, web, and "e-books" much more obvious. A good tablet is going to as easily deliver up Reddit as it is a lushly laid out NY Times Sunday Magazine or an interestingly annotated copy of Great Gatsby. And if I'm willing to pay for some of those -- and I am -- just as I pay for a monthly subscription to Netflix or for a music service, if I'm going to subscribe (and I am partial to either a cheap monthly fee or a la cart) it's going to be due to the quality and consistency of content rather than the type of content. The tablet brings all types of content together, so something like the Kindle will instantly seem weirdly singular and archaic. People seemed to think Kindle was a big deal for books and reading when it came out, I think the big deal is just about to happen.