While I encourage e-book purchases because authors receive higher royalties and are more protected from the loss of royalties through used book purchases, I admit I don’t own an e-reader myself for precisely the reasons you mentioned–the initial cost, and the soon-to-be-outdated technology–and one more: I spend at least half my day in front of a computer and don’t want to spend my pleasure reading time with my dry eyeballs facing another screen.
I guess that makes me a hypocrite.

I also think that some of the issues are changes happening in the consumer, the market and society as a whole not just blatant failures on the part of publishers. I think people these days are moving toward a preference for long availability of products (backlists) rather than “Hey this is new, buy now!” I think most products are more permanent than they once were. I think that publishers offering low royalties on ebook and refusing to offer ebooks is a huge mistake, but so is the idea that ebooks are a gold mine that will replace print. For one many of us cannot afford ereaders, and even if we could the lack of standard formats and technology updating every few months makes us reluctant to spend that kind of money on something that will be obsolete in a year.