It is tempting to read too much into Adobe's decision, effective June 3, to close its online content store. Neither Adobe nor online content seem any worse for the company's experience in selling electronic books, but they don't seem very much better for it, either.

Despite Adobe's efforts—and they have a big stake in this—electronic books are one of the big disappointments of this "Internet era" we've been subjected to lately.

The idea is simple enough: Publish a book that can be read on a computer screen. Add search and other capabilities not available in books printed on paper. Format the electronic book so it looks good if—make that when—the reader decides to print it.

The next step is the most difficult: Get people to pay for your electronic book.

I've commented before on the unwillingness of customers to pay for information presented online that they'd gladly pay for in print. While paper may not be a very good storage mechanism, it remains an excellent display medium.

Many people, including myself, happily print long documents (or even short ones we need to refer to while working online in a different document) because it's easier to read paper than a screen.

Maybe it's different for young people. Perhaps they are more accustomed to using screens because they started younger than their parents. I'd test this hypothesis, except I don't know any young people who read. That's definitely a more serious problem than the failures of electronic publishing, but not one I can do much about.

But as a reader, customer, electronic publisher and author, I've observed how electronic publishing goes wrong (mostly) and right (rarely). Here's my report:

1. The most important issue remains the lack of an excellent platform for reading electronic books. Most people have no interest in "curling up with a warm laptop" so they can read a new novel. PDAs ought to provide a decent reading experience, but as yet don't.

2. E-books are not for recreational reading. Want to "read" a book on a computer? Visit Audible.com and download an audiobook for your PDA or MP3 device. It's a lot more fun to have someone read to you.

3. Publishers don't seem to understand that electronic books need to be short. You can't just force-fit traditional books into electronic book jackets. Adam Engst, publisher of the Mac newsletter TidBits, is having some success with how-to e-books that are, essentially, long magazine articles.

4. Computer books, on the other hand, need to be more than just glorified help files, since potential customers already have help available.

5. Proper formatting is critical for e-books. I am not sure which format is best or what the formatting limitations are, but I know that in technical and reference titles form and function are tightly coupled. If I were doing an e-book, I'd start by working with the designer as soon as I had a good content idea.

6. Electronic books need to be timely—the magazine article analogy again—and inexpensive. Five dollars seems like a fair price for 80 pages and immediate delivery.

7. We still need better reader software, but it's the form factor and displays of the devices used for reading that hold electronic books back the most. Most people want nothing to do with e-books, which seem to offer disadvantages over paper-based titles.

8. The publishing infrastructure sits in the way of e-books in much the same way the recording industry has slowed changes in how music is distributed. There is a huge infrastructure that supports paper-based publishing and it won't go away easily.

Sure, Amazon and other online merchants have taken a cut, but brick-and-mortar storefronts remain strong. Amazon does many things but has yet to devise a means to serve me a Starbucks while I read a few pages from books I am considering. (I also just like getting out of the house.)

Next Page: There are two good things about e-books.