That said, for me eBook readers like Kindle For iPhone and Bookshelf are the “killer apps” for the Touch.

@Kimbo Jones: FWIW, the Sony Reader is available in Canada.

@Naked Bunny with a Whip: What he(?) said. *grin*

@drksky: “What happens if your Kindle dies? Do you have to pay for all your books again. (sic)”

No. Once you get a replacement Kindle and register it to your account, you can re-download your books. This link describes the process to doing that when a customer replaces a Kindle 1 with a Kindle 2:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200316870&#library

I have a question of my own. From what I see, the Amazon Kindle store features a drop-down box on their web page to select which device to download a purchase to, which implies that Amazon allows a customer to own more than one device (Kindle or iPhone/Touch). Does this mean that a family can have multiple Kindles assigned to one account, buy eBooks and assign them as desired? Can one eBook be downloaded to multiple Kindles assuming they are on the same account? Simultaneously (actually downloaded sequentially and read simultaneously)?

I only have my one iPod Touch, so I can’t test this idea.

That being said, I have a small forest full of words and ink on my shelves. I bought DFTS in dead tree format, but I would have loved the opportunity to purchase it on ebook format.

Unfortunately, the proprietary kindle format is unsupported on my preferred device. I like my Acer netbook for reading. I orientate the screen sideways, and turn pages with the space bar. At 2lbs, its comfortable to hold and read. It might not be as trendy and hip as the Kindle, but I sure get more use out of mine. After I finish reading, I can just reorient the screen and check Phils blog, read some email, check out The Daily Show on Hulu, etc.

Proprietary limited use devices like the Kindle are tech-deadends. Our devices need to be flexible and multi use. The DRM idea needs to die also, but thats another discussion entirely.

In closing, as an avid ebook proponent, I like that the Kindle is getting people used to the idea of paperless books. I just hope that people will demand the obvious flaws be fixed.

I have a Kindle, I love it, and I even have DftS! on it. Your comments make me want to remove it tho.

Personally, I’m more interested in the content than the medium. My Kindle has traveled the world with me far more conveniently than a bag of books ever could.

What I don’t get is when you load someone a book, they physically take the copy and you can no longer access it until you get it back. Is it so hard to do this with electronic copies (discounting hacks). i.e. you option to “beam” your copy of a book to another Kindle. When this is done, you can no longer access it on your device until the borrower “beams” it back. I realize, though, that the publishers would rather make people pay for every copy and probably paid every time a particular book gets read. I don’t think, however, that consumers will put up with that sort of control. Not the smart consumer, anyway. I know there’s fewer of those every day, but there’s enough.

What happens if your Kindle dies? Do you have to pay for all your books again. In the above-mentioned scenario, if you drop a book into the tub, it is fixable. If you fry a Kindle and the books are tied to the device, you’re screwed.

Anyway, it’s from Penny Arcade, and I think it says all that needs to be said on this subject.

That is all.

@Autum: I’m 50. That doesn’t mean I can’t think that using my little Touch is better than carrying one or more books. And the general term is “eBook Reader.” They can be physical, like the Sony Reader or Amazon Kindle, or software like the ebook reader programs I installed on my iPod Touch.

“Okay, I’m a Luddite.” No comment.

@Adrian Lopez (and others): I’d like to point out that I am currently reading ebooks from Baen (The Mote in God’s Eye by Jerry Pournelle) and O’Reilly (Essential CVS, 2nd Ed.), and neither have DRM. Amazon does not have a monopoly on e-books, just as Apple doesn’t have a monopoly on digital music players.

Of course, some people (not me) would rather die than use a music player from Sony, Creative Labs, Microsoft, or SanDisk.

@theinquisitor: The upcoming Kindle DX can read PDFs. I *assume* only PDFs without Adobe’s DRM. Sony claims their Reader can use PDF. Thing is, after looking at the SonyStyle web site I can’t tell if you have to convert your PDF to read it on the Sony Reader like you do with the Kindle 1 and 2.

@Chris Swanson: 114 eBooks, and “most still unread”? Why would you do that? I buy my books (bits or dead trees) one at a time as I read them.

@Phil Plait: Kudos to you for using a serif font here!

The loss issue is not insignificant. I’ve twice left my Kindle behind (once in a San Francisco mall) and once on a shuttle bus from Orly Airport in Paris but fortunately got it back both times.

I never lend out books or resell them myself so the DRM really doesn’t bother me and the text search of everything I’ve read is great, and I’m not altruistic enough to deny myself just because DRM is some form of societal ill. I’m a sheeple.

Again, I think that this technology will soon be ubiquitous, I just also think that there will always be a place for good-old paper.

Whether or not it’s inevitable depends very much on how the public reacts to DRM-laden e-books. If the public buys the books despite the DRM, publishers will be in no hurry to offer their books in an unprotected format. If the public refuses to buy DRM’d books, the book industry may yet follow in the footsteps of the music industry. Time will tell.

I never thought I’d be a convert but I bought a Kindle more than a year ago to play with figuring I’d take advantage of the return policy and to my surprise I’ve only read two paper books since.

But yes, the Kindle is not for everyone (the fact that I generally read five or six books at a time and can now have them all with me for my 2 hours a day on the train is a huge sell). But while I’ve heard a lot of people say why they don’t think they’d like one, none of the people I know who’ve actually bought one have returned it.

Anyway, Phil, if I’d known you didn’t know I’d have dropped you a note. I bought and read Death From the Skies on my Kindle several weeks ago.

those of you who prefer the feel of cold emotionless plastic over the soft fuzzy warmth and depth of a real book can now share my nightmares about the end of the world.

Give me a real book anyday!

Incidentally, BA I did recently read your book & loved it! Ten out of ten from me.

Need I say more? =)