There is a huge move to make the book aesthetic similar to what we re used to. Indeed, the e-book front is a bit quiet just now. That is until publishers see e-books as a viable distribution tool and folks like Microsoft realize that there s money to be made at this. As would be expected, much is being done to downplay the new vision of literature to come. In fact, the official review, though mentioning that this is exclusively published as in e-book, still refer redundantly to the book s cover.
Book covers are a colourful way of protecting conventional books.
For e-books, the cover is an extra JPEG you get for free. There is an obvious desire to anchor everything in the familiar as much as possible for the electronic literature neophytes. That being said, the new creation still remains in the present as plasticized as a theme park. Welcome to BookWorld, where you should never judge a book by its bitmap. The challenge will be to convert the traditionalists to the new wave of digital literature.