Books and Kindle

I bought myself a Kindle e-reader last week. So far i really like it. I've read a few books on it. I know that many of you will claim you just like the feel of a real book or you don't see the need for it, but really, don't knock it 'til you've tried it! There are a number of advantages with the thing, namely:
- it's really easy on the eyes
- it's great for reading in bed as you don't have to worry about having one side of the book being easier to read than the other
- it holds a boatload of books.
- books cost less on it, and in some cases are free (either through piracy or www.projectgutenberg.com, etc)

I mean, truly, it's just a new application of technology. Books were a new application of technology at one point. I can just imagine when books first came out, people were probably complaining about them too, saying stuff like "but i LOVE the feel of scrolls - reading just won't be the same with those flat rectangular folding things" or "what about oral tradition?? Now we'll be able to pass knowledge down more efficiently and i just don't like that as much!".

Of course I still love regular books. I have many of them. For reading novels, though, i see nothing superior about reading them in a traditional form, other than for tradition's sake. Now if we're talking a nice hardback book with an interesting cover printed on good paper, hey, i'm all for it!

So i won't be burning my books...just yet.