About half of those issues are solved by drm-free ebooks

My iPhone or Kindle will still track my reading habits when I read a drm-free or pirated book (which I tend to avoid as I want to support authors and publishers and I can afford to). For years, I have been using a Kindle that I disconnected from the Web after activation, it was working fine but then I realized we should not have to fight that situation to begin with: our privacy should be respected out of the box. Since I decided to not compromise anymore on that, well, I quit using those device. Like I said, it’s just a personal choice in favor of my privacy (not an allergy to tech itself, just to the way it has been hijacked to become a spying tool)

I do need to look up words a lot (usually in other languages)

So do I (be it in my native French and in the few others I pretend to speak). But like I said, I also never need to get instant access to a dictionary either. So it can wait I get back home.

and a bus stop after dark will never have enough light for reading. If you read at home I guess these aren’t issues, but pocket books are meant to be read on the road.

I would say (pocket) books are meant to be read and would not have any expectation on where and when people are supposed to be reading them. Then, I don’t read when I’m moving (I get sick). I will read at a bus stop or waiting in a line anywhere if there is enough light. If there is not enough, I will either write stuff in my notebook (even dim light is enough to jot down quick notes), or I will think about stuff.

About the formatting there are some books which should absolutely not be read as ebooks cause you’ll miss out on things. But most books are a block of text split in chapters and paragraphs. A phone can absolutely support that.

Typography and page layout was once a thing. It was considered kind of an art form even. I feel a bit sad to see it boiled down to some ‘block of text split in chapters’ but it could also just be a sign that I’m getting old and out of touch. Which is to be expected too ;)

Thx for the discussion, it was interesting.