Nadenu wrote:
When they first introduced the Kindle, I felt the same way (I want real books, dammit!) But the other day I was reading a fairly big hardback book and after a while, it was uncomfortable to hold. I could never get in a comfortable position. If I had had it on a Kindle, I don't think I'd have that problem.
The eyesight thing isn't an issue with me (I see better close up), but I really like the convenience of the Kindle app, and I'm sure I'd love the actual Kindle even more.
See also breaking the bindings on your books on accident (or on purpose for some). Kindle can adjust font size and other goodness really easily.
For me it's a matter of apartment space, etc. and convenience. I like to travel a lot, even if it just means I work from the coffee shop today, a hotel across the state tomorrow, or Japan the day after. I can fit my kindle (including its protective case I have,) inside of the book about 13 times over. And that's just how thick the book is. The book also outweighs my kindle a good bit, and the dimensions other than thickness are bigger. I can now fit more in my carry-on (inportant) and carry less with me (even better).
Other things: Kindle syncs your place in the book so long as it can get to the net which means you can pick up exactly where you left off on a different platform (i.e. kindle v laptop). Built-in dictionary can potentially be handy. Kindle (if it has the net) will optionally (on by default) show you passages highlited by large numbers of people, which I found interesting. You can mark/highlight things and a separate entry on your home screen will happily let you browse all of your marks quickly. The battery life is also amazing. Most books are cheaper on Amazon as kindle edition. You also have access to ridiculous numbers of free classics and other works. Footnotes are interactive, which is a nice touch versus dead tree versions. Another nice feature versus, say, just using the laptop software: a lot harder to get distracted when the computing power in your hands is very specialized toward the task (though I think you can buy games and it does have an experimental web browser I haven't tried out).
I thought I would hate the Kindle. I had the pry my text from my cold dead hands view. So far, loving it. Will I still keep hardcopies of some books? Of course. I like the aesthetic value (or signed version, or rare edition, or whatever the reasoning for each one). I also really, really hate black text on white background and it's a huge strain on my eyes. I saw my aunt's and its nice black-on-grey view, the size, the weight, the ease-of-use and fell in love. My mom had asked if I would want one, I said no. I called her back a few days later to reverse that decision and I'm quite glad I did.
It's not really better for the environment (yet,) and if you're worried about electricity after the apocolypse it's probably not your bag. However, with rare exception, I plan on having my kindle be my main source of written-word consumption. I think people tend to view it as all-or-nothing; I don't think that's good. The time, space, etc. I save makes it a win for me.
Edit: my one real complaint? It isn't back-lit.
Edited, Dec 28th 2010 3:00pm by acprog 
