The future of the book?

The Casual Optimist showcases IDEO's three new eReader-type creations that combine social media with the reading experience. In the comments, Jacob Covey expresses much of my opinion

I don’t want to join more fleeting conversations, I don’t want to spend any more time on monitors than I already have to, I don’t want clever excuses for making my life more complicated, no matter how jaunty and persuasive the accompanying soundtrack is. I just want to read a fucking printed book because reading a fucking printed book is one of the most comforting, meaningful things in all this sprawling life.

As to whether these are actually the future of the book, the first two are more the future of book review websites, bookgroups, etc. The "Alice" creation, in which performing various activities unlocks other information such as extra chapters or text messages from characters, is more the future of activity books for adults--similar to current activity books for children (such as Art Fraud Detective). Activity books for children are designed to be fun and to teach reading comprehension and other skills. Books using the "Alice" template can be much the same for adults--fun and teaching ways all that annoying exciting technology can be used. I see it taking the place of more game-type activities, for example, Sudoku, rather than reading.