The honest answer is that, while this isn't my personal choice, it could be the first step, but only that. Each book that Offscreen have produced is a separate download and icon on my Nokia 5800. That makes the monetisation process the same as a regular application, which means it fits in the business model they have, and into the Ovi store mechanisms with ease. Finding a working vector into the market has always been the stumbling blocks of other eBook solutions, so I wouldn't discount this approach simply because it doesn't follow my favoured model (of a well-specced reading client on the device, with books as separate files that can be opened).
It's certainly not Mobipocket – there are no configuration options at all, you're stuck with the font size (and indeed the font) that comes with the package, and the navigation options are limited to jumping to the start of the listed chapters, or turning the pages over. I don't actually think this is a big problem when you are buying a single title with a minimal cost, because you know you are getting a limited interface, but opinions are never rational... for me, using a serif font is a no-no for my eBooks!
Of course the other question about eBooks is where to get the content. Offscreen are currently selling 'out of copyright' works such as the stories of Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austin via the Ovi Store – which is handy as they get to keep all the income and not share it with an author, agent or publisher. The real test is getting newly published material into an eBook eco-system. That's where there will be real value and adoption – witness the success of the Amazon Kindle and its spreading out to the smartphone world.
Will we ever see a digital Amazon on all platforms?
So, for now, Offscreen's books are a great diversion and proof of concept (and likely to sell in reasonable numbers) but are they the future? That's like pointing at a car-tyre and saying look, there's the future of the car. Technically you'd be right, but there's so much that needs to be added to make it something that is consumer friendly (chassis, shell, a petrol station...), but it is a good first stepping stone.
I personally think that a good reading application (such as the deprecated but still usable Mobipocket) is the way forward, because then a lot of time can be spent on the user experience and it is replicable over all the books that someone may buy.
Having a reading application also lets people roll their own ebooks, either for 'fanfic' sites or the increasing number of CC-licensed books now available. It also wouldn't be the first time I've cut and pasted a Wikipedia entry on a tourist site into an eBook format to carry with me. But allowing an open system, where user created or owned files can be played alongside purchased files (which may or may not have DRM) is exactly what the eBook market needs.
And there is precedent, because that's exactly how the music players work on smartphones. You can take your own MP3's, you can buy some, you can import and play around... Perhaps we need a Nokia 'Comes With Books' service to kick start the market? To be honest, that's far more attractive to me than music.
-- Ewan Spence, Sept 2009.