Originally Posted by RST

Rose Marie -- I would have agreed with most of the things you list about why I didn't want a Kindle -- until my DH went and got me one as a surprise.

I read a lot-- I still have paper books, but I find I prefer reading on the Kindle, both because it's easily portable and light to hold, no pages to flip, and best of all, the print size can be increased, so I don't have to admit I might need reading glasses (at least not yet).

I rarely pay anything at all for books. Many, many books are free, either as a promotional, or because they are public domain (I read a lot of older, "classics"). I also get library books on my Kindle, or get loaners from family members who also own Kindles. So I have over a thousand books on my Kindle account, and I've paid far less than I would have, even at garage sale prices. Best of all, my shelves are not cluttered with books. I still have a lot of book shelves, because I love books, but I only have the ones I truly do treasure, and I can enjoy them more because they aren't lost in the crush of other stuff. (Plus, more room for fabric stash ; )

Sharing with family is far easier with Kindles -- you can have 6 accounts (people) reading a book at the same time within your own household. This is amazing and great when a new book comes out and all the kids want to read it at the same time-- which happens a lot at our house. Two of my sons have laptops with Kindle accounts, so they can read on those. My DH read kindle books on his phone. I have a Kindle2, plus my phone. Beyond that, I can also loan a book to my sister who lives across the country, just by a click of a button. When she's done, it's back on my kindle, with no fuss over mailing it or remembering who borrowed it or what her kids might have scribbled on the cover.

Finally, the books won't disappear like 8 tracks or cassettes-- at least not until both Amazon and your own computer files do. They exist in your Amazon account, or on the cloud, so if your kindle is lost, stolen, or obsolete, it's not a big deal -- all the books are still immediately available. Statistically, the chances of your house burning down with all the books in it is a greater risk than losing them all to some computer catastrophe.

I admit that ebooks may not be for everyone, but it's really a good idea to dismiss something knowing how it works and what it is, not just conceptually. I thought I would miss paper and ink and the texture of the pages, and the cover art. Honestly, I don't, for most books.

Let's just put it this way. I went from really, really *not* wanting a kindle (about 3 years ago) to saying that if it were a showdown between my dishwasher and my kindle as the most important gadget in the house, the kindle would win-- all in the space of about 24 hours.

RST