eBooks

I got an ebook reader for Christmas. I've wanted one pretty much since they came out, but I never got around to buying one.

At first, I was wary of the experience. I'm at a computer most of the day, and didn't know how I'd feel about spending my evenings, weekends, and holidays peering into a small, backlit screen. But, the newer ebooks have really improved on the user experience, so that was no longer a concern for me.

My second concern was (and is) the cost. I read a lot. But, I'm (usually) good about getting books from the library and borrowing books from friends, so I don't spend much money on books each year. Especially if I had a wireless reader, I'd probably be downloading books as soon as I hear about them, instead of putting them on my library list.

Third, I'm kind of a book evangelist. I like telling friends about a book and then letting them borrow it when I'm done. It's partly selfish, because then we can talk about the book :)

In spite of all those concerns, I still wanted an ebook reader. They just seem so convenient, especially when I'm on vacation or traveling. Or around town, when I have an unexpected hour or two somewhere, I don't have to worry about not having a book with me. And the ones with wireless seem even more useful - how many times have I marked a page to look up more information or a word's definition later? And how refreshing would it be to not have to throw away a week's worth of papers and magazines every week?

So, I'm still conflicted. And I haven't even opened the ebook reader I got for Christmas. Ostensibly, I was waiting for the Kindle backlog to free up. And then, I was waiting to see whether I'd want a Kindle 2 instead. Someday I will figure out which one I want and open it up.

In the meantime, I'm going to install Kindle for iPhone and see how I like it.