It's not free software AFAIK, but I have a simple e-reader the cheapest K*
from Amazon. It's an e-ink screen and I don't have it connected to the
internet or registered to an account. PROS: you can easily load books onto it
via its USB cable, which I get from sites like booksshouldbefree.com and
gutenberg.org. CONS: not free(?), doesn't display PDFs well at all, and if
you do purchase e-books from Amazon they're usually DRMed (though if you
bought them there's a way to unlock them ;-)
I'm looking at the Nook from Barnes and Noble. It's also cheap and has e-ink
display, but AFAIK it runs Android so -- barring any digital restrictions --
you could read on it via apps from F-Droid.org for instance.
Basically if you can get a reader with which you're allowed to avoid DRM and
can connect to them using free software, that's about the best mass market
has to offer right now.
