The ability to search an ebook can be tremendously useful. I too often prefer using technical books in a non-linear fashion, and a paper book is often still su

The ability to search an ebook can be tremendously useful. I too often prefer using technical books in a non-linear fashion, and a paper book is often still superior for this, but there's not much difference, search can let you "flip through" the ebook quickly, and can find things an average index + Table of Contents (TOC) won't, or won't easily. Good ebooks will also have links in the index and TOC that take you right to the item. Note, after reading wiremind's comment: I use a 24 inch high quality WUXGA (1920×1200) monitor and PDFs for this; I can envision problems with smaller form factors and can't speak about other formats.