[cappyjon431]

My wife and I are voracious readers and when we moved to Panama (which has very few books available in English in either bookstores or public libraries) my wife and I bought Sony Digital Readers which are very similar to Kindles but preceeded them by a couple of years.

We love our Sonys for many of the same reasons that most posters have noted above. I particulaly like being able to increase font size (and avoid wearing my glasses!), the portability of having about 200 books in a package smaller than most paperbacks, and the really long battery life (I presently get about 700 pages before having to recharge the battery). The main advantage for us (and the reason we bought them to begin with) is it allows us to have access to tens of thousands of books while we are out of the country.

When we move back to the States (moving to TV in just over two weeks) we will keep our Sonys until they die and then we will consider changing over to either the Kindle or Nook (a Barnes and Noble product). My wife has researched all three and she is leaning towards the Nook.

It's funny, but I came into the digital book world kicking and screaming. When I taught English at University of North Carolina-Wilmington I had some students who were doing a research project on the advent of digital media (this was pre-digital readers, but books were just beginning to become available online). They interviewed me in my office (on videotape no less) and I loudly proclaimed that I would NEVER enjoy reading a book electronically--I would miss the feel, smell, and comfort of curling up with a genuine "paper" book. Years later I am a digital book convert.