Yesterday I acquired a Kindle 2, the newish e-book reader from Amazon.com. That might surprise some people who know me because I do read a lot, I like books qua books - the feel of a good hardback, a hefty reference volume - and I'm not one to adopt every new technology instantly if it doesn't do something useful for me. I have no use for texting, for example.
Briefly (in case you're still in the dark about it), with your Kindle you buy electronic books at discounts off "real" book prices, download them instantly, and store them (up to 1,500 of them, according to Amazon) on your reader, which has the footprint of an average book but is much thinner. Some people, like the Washington Post's tech critic Rob Pegoraro, object that the technology is proprietary, meaning you can't lend the e-book, or give it away, or pass it to a friend. Others just say that it doesn't replicate the feel, the tactile, visual, or olfactory pleasure of a "real" book. Both are right; if these factors are critical to you, you may not need or want a Kindle.
But from my perspective, as someone who's not glued 24/7 to a computer or phone screen and doesn't wish to be, Kindle represents the future of book-reading, if reading books has a future. I don't expect to use it for everything (not for reference works, or those with a lot of photos, or cookbooks, to name three). No, for me, the Kindle is for everyday reading of the kinds of books I would normally read once and then get rid of - current novels, classics too maybe, popular history, books that I might buy and find I don't like. Its overwhelming advantages are:
It's green: Of books I read, maybe one in 10 are keepers. The rest pile up and overflow the shelves; their resale or charitable-contribution value is almost nil. A huge proportion of used books in the world end up in landfills or (best scenario) shredded and recycled. The Kindle will eliminate that. The book I want to keep, I can keep (or even buy a hard copy of) but the others aren't a problem - not for me, not for landfills, and not for the forests. It's convenient: Slimmer than a single regular book, The Kindle goes many places a real book might not, even in a purse or jacket pocket. You can sit where you want to read it, and you don't have to find an internet or cellphone connection (often a problem overseas). Moreover, by carrying this one object, you actually have a whole library of books at your fingertips, as well as periodicals and blogs you can get by subscription. That's a benenefit any time, but especially when you're traveling! Overall, lower cost and greater availability of books: Clearly there's a saving for consumers and publishers alike when a physical, manufactured book is replaced by an electronic version. I also expect older books will be available more easily; once it's been produced in an electronic format, there's not much reason for a title to go out of print.
So far, nearly every person to whom I've described the Kindle has gone out and bought one. Just in case I've convinced you to go buy one, there's a convenient link in the right-hand column.