E-Readers: My Thoughts

I have long resisted the siren song of the e-reader.  I had the first version of such a thing a million years ago, (Honestly, I might not even have been in high school yet.  That's like the paleolithic age in tech years.) but since that time I have been uninterested.  I like books, especially new books.  I have shelves upon shelves of (mostly read) books, and I love flipping back through them, seeing old notes or coffee stains or particularly well-loved spines and dog-eared pages.

But I am now in possession of a Kindle Touch, which I received as a Christmas gift.  I figured it was only fair to give it a trial run, as it were, so here are my thoughts six weeks later.

Pros:

• I LOVE how small/lightweight the Kindle is.  I can tuck it in my handbag and haul it around everywhere.  For someone who routinely packs 3-4 books on every trip she takes, this frees up a lot of space in my luggage.
• I appreciate the ability to download books on the spot.  I have extreme book anxiety when I travel - what on earth would I do if I ran out of things to read? - so this is helping to alleviate this fear.  (Mind you, I still brought a paperback on my most recent trip "just in case," but you can't expect miracles overnight.)

Cons: 

• It drives me batty that, due to several factors including the ability to change font sizes, text does not stay in the same place.  I'm a compulsive re-reader and can always count on remembering not only where in the book a passage is located but also where on the page.  My e-reader keeps moving text, and it's hard to skim.  Plus it really does make me bonkers that a passage I KNOW was on the bottom of the "page" the first time I read it is now in the middle.  Aargh.  Others may not have this particular issue.
• The screen is super responsive to any touch, not just fingers, so occasionally it will jump around, making it difficult to locate where I left off.  This usually only occurs when I have to shove the Kindle under my legs to hide it from flight attendants during take off.  I'm a rebel, what can I say.

Basically, I like my Kindle.  It goes on airplanes with me.  It goes to Starbucks.  But it won't ever replace my actual books.  In fact, I have basically been buying books twice - one for my Kindle and one for my bookshelf.  Just don't tell my husband!