Most of us have never seen the Sony Librie e-book reader in real life, thanks to Sony's insistance to supply only its home country with the nicest and latest gadgets around. Jason Kottke had the chance (http://www.kottke.org/05/04/the-sony-librie) to put his hands on a Librie, and for sure he likes it:

What you can't see from the photo is how insanely crisp and clear the text on the "screen" is. It was book-text quality...it looked like a decal until you pushed the next button and the whole screen changed. It was *really* mind-boggling and you could instantly see how most books are going to be distributed in the very near future.

Unfortunately buying the Librie from an export dealer costs a small fortune, and I am not sure if it is worth 600$ considering how fast e-paper technology is evolving these days.

Why all the talk about the Librie all of a sudden again? Nothing has changed; Sony has changed its malicious DRM scheme, officially it is still only available in Japan, and its e-paper technology hasn't caught color yet.

Btw, you don't have to spend $600 on this thing. Japan Direct has it (http://www.japan-direct.com/cartitem.asp?prodid=552) for $419.