Also, I can (and often do) have pages open in each of my physical books simultaneously, so I can have a half-dozen on my desk at once and transfer my attention

Also, I can (and often do) have pages open in each of my physical books simultaneously, so I can have a half-dozen on my desk at once and transfer my attention between them almost instantly. Compare that to a single 14" e-ink screen. My eReader is a fantastic replacement for a stack of novels; books I will read from cover to cover, and won't want to mark up or use as a reference. It is a terrible replacement for a stack of textbooks in which much of the functionality comes from the ease of marking up, adding sticky tabs and most importantly having them all open at once in my field of vision.