Questions were plentiful but answers few at the Stationers Trade and Industry Forum "e-books, can we read their future?"


The unanimous view was that somewhere, sometime, somehow there would be a significant market.


Suzanne Wilson-Higgins of Lightning Source UK said the 40,000 e-books available through hand-held devices or pre-loaded software could form a 2m market by 2006.


Mark McCallum of Random House added the cautionary reminder: "Because technology allows you to do something it does not mean that anyone wants it," he said.


"The market is volatile but under-25s, at least, have a positive attitude to it. At present though, no one can figure out how to make money out of it."


Cliff Morgan of John Wiley & Sons summarised the difficulties of operating in a market characterised by "confusion, hype and apathy" in which the reading devices are too numerous and too expensive.


"Its been called a prime example of retarded technology," he said, "which makes something complicated and expensive that is easy and inexpensive."


Richard Brewster, chairman of the Trade and Industry Forum, announced that the ninth colloquium on 29 October would continue the e-commerce theme with "Surviving and profiting by e-trading".