Every hoop is taken to make them like real books whether it makes sense or not, except for the time when you actually want to lend or give them to someone else. Then it gets complicated, depends on the vendor, or is simply impossible.
I have no need for that.
Imagine 200 years in the future, all license servers are disabled and we cannot read our own (digital) books anymore.
DRM sucks. Period. But as of today, it can be removed after purchase, which means its longevity will depend on backup strategies, not licensing servers.
Can that change? Sure. But it's not the case today, and we don't see it on the horizon.
Not if you like carrying your whole library around with you everywhere. Try doing that with physical books.
It seems like less of a scam and more of a technology constrained by publishers and authors. Lots of people borrow digital books from libraries, for example, without ever buying them.