You know that most gadgets are extremely fragile by nature, and the Sony Librie e-book reader is no exception. Hence we feel genuinely sorry for Mathieu from Australia whose Librie got crushed (http://www.mathieutozer.com/2006/04/rip-libri.html) by a heavy notebook. You can see some photos of the immediate aftermath posted here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mathieutozer/tags/librie/) on Flickr. And what's Mathieu's wish for his next e-book reader?

I've had the opportunity to experience ePaper - this experience hasn't turned me off it. I'll just have to make sure that my future eBook has a stronger protective case for the screen. I believe the iRex iLiad has a glass cover. The Sony Reader which will sell in Borders book stores across the US has a...? This makes me wonder whether Sony equipped the paper with anything more than the leather cover?

Anyone cares to speculate?

My condolences to him on his loss. :( I guess eink still have awhile to go before truly replacing paper ... :p

Looks like the same aftermath after my iRex fell 2 feet onto a carpeted floor, except my crack goes from the upper left corner. Ends up it is cheaper to replace the reader with a Sony than get it fixed.

Looks like the same aftermath after my iRex fell 2 feet onto a carpeted floor, except my crack goes from the upper left corner. Ends up it is cheaper to replace the reader with a Sony than get it fixed.
Ouch! 2 feet on a carpeted floor - that isn't much. So I gather that E Ink's are very sensitive. More sensitive than LCD.

BTW, if you want better protection for the Sony Reader, you might need to get a separate case or box of some sort because the cover it comes with is pretty flexible and is not likely to protect the screen very much. I'm sure we'll see some good alternatives come up fast, and even some of the standard DayTimer-like portfolios might end up working pretty well. Clearly something will be needed to protect it while traveling.