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Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

kindle = end of the world

no it's not. it's really not. if you moved house as often as i do, you'd definitely see the value in it. i love paper books but they are HEAVY and take up a lot of space.

my wife and i have sworn to travel light from now on-- the lp records and the books are the only compromise, but damn, my books need their own room.

in my current apartment i have a measly shelf and all my books are stored in a house 200 miles away, part in boxes, part on shelves-- so if i'm talking with a friend about say a borges story, and i wanna look up a reference, i'd have to drive for a couple of hours to get the thing.

if anything, the kindle has the potential to spark a book renaissance. no ugly ads, no internet distractions, just the book. publishing is cheaper. less transportation costs. more rare books accessible to everyone. think of it as the book of sand-- a little less fantastic, but works the same.

with "global 3G" (whatever the fuck that is), you can take your kindle pretty much anywhere in the world and have access to your book collection. imagine a decade or two from now, you'll have access to the whole contents of the library of congress from a single device. the idea of such a thing makes me totally horny for the future.