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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3163673/?report=reader
Presenting paginated content in a multi-column layout has its advantages. First and foremost, it's better adapted to widescreen displays -- instead of a narrow column of text surrounded by huge margins on both sides, the entire window area is filled with text, allowing the reader to see much more content without scrolling. The user can maximize the browser window to fully utilize the screen area (the 2-column layout then becomes a 3-column layout).
One disadvantage is that you can no longer Ctrl+F to find a keyword within the article. The page has to provide its own search functionality. This is of course not an inherent problem and could be solved with proper browser support.
Do you think multi-column, paginated text has a future for general Web content (outside of ebook readers etc.)?