Immersive reading might be slippery to define. Those of us who value long-form prose have always been in the minority throughout history. We just hate to confront that reality for fears of being called elitist. As far as “immersive reading” in digital media goes, everyone should look more towards documentary films than print as a content model though there’s obviously not much of a revenue model there. Intellectual property constraints will do more to limit creativity or new forms of “writing” in digital media than on reading and distribution.

I think you’re absolutely right in that the future is about on demand access to material. And that can be in the format of one’s preference (be it digital or print via print-on-demand or even traditional bookstores).

You already gave the answer: put it in the “clouds”. This will automatically lead to a “usage fee” instead of a “buying fee”. For the consumer than it is important to know what they’re paying for. Is it a product I’m paying for or is it the usage of the content? And is the content mine? Can I resell it or lend it to a friend? No, why not? Next to changing the contract structures I think the transition to e-reading involves a lot of communication to the consumer about what is possible and what is not.