STEPHEN FRY

I have had a few different ebook readers over the years, either as applications on other devices (PDA, phone) or as standalone. The good points are as you might expect - you can carry lots of books around at once, it remembers your page and they are great to read at night if backlit.

In terms of bad points, there's region restrictions nowadays, in fact a couple of books I legitimately bought a few years back I could no longer buy as they are only available in the US. Second, there's the DRM which restricts the devices you can read certain books on. It also gives the publisher control of your content - I think there was a case of Amazon withdrawing 1984 and deleting it from people Kindles a couple of years ago. There's also the problem that ebooks can be just as pricey as the actual book but with nothing permanent to show for it.

I guess that makes it sound like I am not a fan, but I do think the convenience is wonderful.

I am using my ipad as an ebook reader as well. Yes, it is much easier as you can have multiple content downloaded on your gadget you can read anytime but i still go back to reading on books, physical books. If you really love books, reading on the ipad or a kindle really feels different. Yes it has bookmarks and all those functions that could lure you in but it takes away the excitement from reading an actual book like avoiding it from having dog ears, or is it just me. It can harm the eyes too, not that you do not know that yet.

I am seriously considering getting one but I do wonder about reading in bed? It seems not to be the most comfortable of bedfellows and will I drop it on my face when I fall asleep only to be electrocuted if I was to drool in my sleep?
I do loath chopping down forest after forest just so that I can read something but I will miss burying my nose deep in the pages of a book either smelling its fresh paper and ink smell or better yet the smell of a second hand book store, wondering about who else has read these pages before. Part of the joy of a good book is the character it has acquired from being well read, the ring from a cup on the cover and the battered edges from being lugged around etc...
Still an e-reader seems so dreadfully convenient, no more hearing about a good book and thinking 'i must get that' then forgetting, no more books out of stock or that have to be special ordered in, no more leaving the book on the bus. Yet, Book shopping is a something almost sacred. Often my girlfriend and I have gone on dates consisting of dinner and borders rather than dinner and a movie or wasted a whole Saturday in second hand book stores seeing what treasure we could find.
I suspect, in the end, I will get an e-reader and that I will use it with enthusiasm but that for as long as they exist I will continue to spend a lot of time in book stores, after all I will still need a book to sleep with.

I bought a Kindle last year and absolutely love it. It led to me finding out about a whole indie ebook industry. I didnt know such a thing existed till I got my Kindle.
I must admit that I love buying books and have bookshelves lined. It is easier to justify buying more books when they aren't taking up so much space. The thing that really sold me on the Kindle is that the screen is not backlit. I work in IT so the last thing I wanted was another screen to look at. Its also easy to read in the sun, lit screens are glary, but may you have to live in a place like Australia to get that bit (LOL)

I was dubious about e-readers at first, I just love paper books too much. It seemed to me that the sensations of books were being forgotten, the smell, the tactile sense of turning a page, the weight of them etc. And of course the joys of just browsing a book shop.

However, I finally decided to buy one after moving to the middle of nowhere in Spain where buying ANY book can be more than a tad problematic. And I now love my Kindle and wouldn´t be without it. Buying books is easy, even with a paltry GPRS connection, and of course there´s all those wonderful free ones out there too.

It isn´t perfect, I have a lot of PDF´s that it doesn´t like, and even though Amazon offers a free translation over to their own format, it doesn´t work very well for even mildly complex page layouts. Then there´s also the fact that not many e-books seem to bother with cover-art, something I´m sure illustrators will begin worrying about as e-readers really take off. And of course the DRM issue is, as usual a bit of a pain. But on balance it´s probably the best gadget I´ve ever bought, simply for how often I use it - every single day.

But what I´m really after is an e-reader running Electrowetting technology (which is presently in development). Colour e-ink with a refresh rate sufficient for the display of moving images. Now that will be something to drool over.

Another reason to go for an e-reader.

You can play ZORK on the Kindle!