e-books?

There has been a lot of talk about e-books replacing conventional printed and bound books; what percentage of replacement depends on who you listen to. I recently talked to one of my daughters who teaches college Literature and English about this. Her thoughts weren't so much whether e-books would have much impact on printed books, but more important, would the kids she's teaching even bother to read at all. She's still in her late 20's, but sees the incoming freshman college students with little interest in media they can't sit and watch. They'd rather go see Pride and Prejudice (if they had to) than read the book. They view reading as just too much work taking too much time.
And writing? I have to admit I was a little surprised when she told me she had writing assignments handed in where students used "2" for the word to, or "4" for the word for. I can text message from my cell, but it's scary to think these could be our future leaders. They could even end up president without being literate...
Anyway, let's hope parents take some responsibility with their children and start from birth (or before) reading to their kids. There's just too much magic and wonder out there that they won't find on their Envy or the next mulitpurpose gadget.