When I say "desktop-quality browsing", I'm referring to two things: The size of the display, in pixels, and the applications.

The Nokia tablets offer desktop-quality browsing, whereas mobile phones offer a cut-down rendition of browsing because of small screens and incomplete browser software (no Flash or AJAX).

Actually screen quality is an additional issue that I hadn't taken into account. I wasn't aware of the eink technology, so that sounds like the Kindle really is little more than a specific tool for reading ebooks.

Incidentally, my two cents on ebook readers (above all the obvious points, such as that people LIKE paper books) -- something that's plastic is unpleasant to hold for long periods. One nice thing about paper is that it soaks up your hand sweat/grease. Paper is much more organic and we like that.