Solutions? Problem worth solving? As is so often the case, I think this an issue if the individual lets it become one. If you want to read and understand and remember the content, you will, and if you don't haptics aren't going to help. Some time in iso might.

I can definitely say that I don't miss newspapers. I'm equally happy, if not more so, reading the news on my computer. I like that hyperlinks exist, and they can lead to some very interesting reading in a way that a newspaper never could.

That said, books are king. I won't buy an e-reader until I lack any other choice. Given the abundance of used books, I think that I probably don't have to worry about it in the near future, perhaps ever. While I agree with you that a truly engaged reader may be medium insensitive, I just completely lack any kind of attraction to a Kindle, Nook or iPad. Turning a page as an act can be experiential, especially when reading a very suspenseful or powerful portion of a novel, for example.

To me, there's a qualitative divide between informational reading and "pleasure" reading (e.g. a novel, history, or creative nonfiction--I can't find a better word than pleasure at the moment). Maybe I don't get as absorbed reading about what happened to the stock market yesterday, but I don't think I need to be, either. It would be interesting if they repeated the reading comprehension study with a technical or informative piece rather than a work of fiction.

In the end, I see no reason why digital and print can't co-exist. They enable different sorts of experiences and are optimal for different sorts of work.