While we're on the topic, here's something related - the
Playaway.
It's basically a dedicated mp3 player with one book on it (no down- or uploading). Our local "competitor" has these for borrowing. The crazy huge snag is that they take AA batteries - and they chew through them. They had so many complaints about players dying mid-book that the library is actually replacing the batteries every time they're returned. Ouch, from both an economic and environmental standpoint. However, if the were rechargable like a normal player, they'd be more expensive (but not much, at this point. It was a problem 2 years ago, now it's just stupid).