Very thoughtful and the bibliophile in me agrees – for those books I really want to keep and cherish. I have a house full of literally thousands of books that I will have ’til I die. Yet I want and believe in the ebook concept. I like the Amazon-Kindle business model. It offers me exactly what I need – impulse shopping for books that I will merely consume. In other words, it would feed my Clive Cussler on the airplane addiction. Stuff is mindcandy, totally brainrot, and just what I want to while away the stressfilled hours in a cramped, bacteria-infested environment. I can get the books when I want, they’re backed up at Amazon, and I would not feel bad if I lost one.

This is convenience they’re selling, not the reading experience. Just like I listen to a recording instead of going to a concert or playing an instrument. But don’t sell it short – etextbooks make a world of sense and that’s a growing segment. Magazines too. As for the privacy, well, you’re kidding yourself if you think an on-the-grid purchase has any privacy. It’s all going to the “recommendations” file.

FYI, you can make annotations. From Amazon:
“Bookmarks and Annotations

By using the QWERTY keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes. Using the new 5-way controller, you can highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use. You’ll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read.”

I’ve used several different types and styles of e-books, from single purpose readers to PDAs to desktops. It’s going to make it sometime – someone is going to get the form factor /convenience mix right, and it will take off. Just like mp3 players – because you almost can’t avoid getting one.

Just saw this in David Pogue’s blog and it made me think of your essay: A Place for Antique E-Books.