They didn't two decades ago when I was in one of the earlier 'pilot programs'; at that time it was apparently VERY costly to get 'PDF' copies of the books on CD-ROM.

If we had an open educational stack we might have actual free content and then it might be possible to use the laptop like an e-reader. However, still, in that use case the student would be better off with a fixed main workstation and more of a consumption and quick-scribble-notes device for portable use.

Plus, books are a different kind of reading experience and a more tactile feedback. It might improve learning retention to read a book relative to reading a tablet or laptop. Having said that, /using/ that content in a trans formative way was always MUCH stronger for me.