[run4yourlives]

There is a big difference between books and music/video. With books, it is not only the content but the medium that is part of the experience.

A paperback is lightweight, cheap, durable and independent of other resources. Most importantly, a book as an experience is a long, drawn out affair. Books take hours to enjoy, so it's of little importance how many I can carry at a time.

Music/movies have the opposite effect ~ they are shorter durations of entertainment, so the more I can carry, the more I can enjoy the experience. The major advantage of digital music is that I can carry my whole library with me in my pocket. Even if I could do this with my bookcase, there is little reason for me to do so. This defeats one of the major advantages of kindle.

I don't disagree with anything you say, but I don't think the death of the book will happen any time in our lifetime, or our children's lifetime to be honest.

[gcheong]

It depends on how you read. I am often reading several books at any one time (obviously not simultaneously) so having the ability to read one book for a while and then effortlessly switch to another at any time/location is a big plus for me. Having had the kindle dx for a while now, I find it pretty much equivalent to reading a paper book and I don't miss the paper versions at all.

[jfornear]

I do the same. I read easier books that don't require in-depth understanding on the iPhone Kindle app, and I go ahead and buy books that I know I'm going to have to look back to again and again.