In a new study of 2,176 Internet users, comScore reports, "that not only will a variety of markets be impacted by the introduction of these devices but also that there are substantial opportunities for those in the digital content ecosystem."The table below gives the stats regarding awareness and purchase intent of several eReaders:

Another interesting set of findings from the study unveils how consumers would actually use an iPad if they owned one:

• 50% are likely to browse the Internet
• 48% are likely to use email
• 38% are likely to listen to music
• 37% are likely to read books
• 37% are likely to maintain an address book or contact list
• 36% are likely to watch videos and movies
• 35% are likely to store and view photos
• 34% are likely to read newspapers and magazines
• 33% are likely to use a calendar
• 30% are likely to play arcade, card games, word games or number puzzles
• 26% are likely to download apps from the iTunes App Store
• 22% are likely to play action, strategy, role playing, or first person shooter games

For the content industry, the most interesting information reported from this study is the difference between existing owners of iPhone or iPod touch devices (dubbed 'iOwners') in comparison to non-iOwners where the idea of paying for content is concerned.  According to respondents to this survey, 52% of iOwners claimed to be willing or very willing to pay for newspaper or magazine subscriptions that are specially formatted for eReaders, but only 22% of non-iOwners claimed the same level of willingess to pay for that content.  Furthermore, younger audiences reported being more willing to pay for content then older audiences (68% of 25-24 year olds and 59% of 35-44 year olds are willing to pay for content).A final point of interest from the report tells us that only 22% of respondents said that an eReader would replace another device that they currently use such as a netbook or smartphone.  Instead, the majority of respondents would use an eReader in addition to the devices they already own.  It will be particularly interesting to see if that statistic changes a year from now when eReaders become more mainstream.