“Books are having their iPod moment this holiday season,” observes Geoffrey A. Fowler in a Wall Street Journal report. “But buyer beware: It could also turn out to be an eight-track moment.”

Fowler says according to reliable estimates, and between the Sony E-Reader, Amazon’s Kindle, the Nook E-Reader from Barnes & Noble, and other new devices, “900,000 e-readers will sell in the U.S. in November and December.”

“Still,” says Fowler, “it’s unclear how and on what sort of device”most people will be comfortable reading e-books. Numbers are high for people who prefer reading on computer screens and/or cell phones. Meanwhile e-reader devices are caught up in format wars. And many find “restrict the book-reading experience in ways that trusty paperbacks haven’t, such as limiting lending to a friend.” Meanwhile, “e-reader buyers may be sinking cash into a technology that could become obsolete.”