I think you're right - this is exactly what will happen, but it will take time. Games have been mainstream in a downloadable format for a very long time, eBooks

I think you're right - this is exactly what will happen, but it will take time. Games have been mainstream in a downloadable format for a very long time, eBooks are only just becoming popular, despite the fact that books are ancient. I'm looking at Amazon to do this - they're best placed to right now. But when, is hard to say. I imagine it will start slowly, with independent authors publishing their own books, until a critical mass is reached where a large number of authors will switch over to self-publishing.