[DMB]

I only got my K3 last August. Before that, the only books I had read electronically were some Gutenberg classics on my computer. Once I had got used to the Kindle -- and it didn't take long -- I started getting rid of the thousands of dt books that were taking up so much storage space and that I didn't think I would ever want to read again. Since then, the only dt boks I have bought have been cookery books.

I still have a sizeable collection of dt books that I keep on intending to read. Some of them are sitting on shelves above my bed. A few nights ago I felt like reading a new novel and I took down a paperback version of Iain Pears's Stone's Fall. I quite quickly got absorbed in the book, but I found holding it and keeping it open a constant nuisance. It was just inconvenient. So in the end I weakened and bought the ebook from Amazon. The nice thing about that was that I could share the book straight away with my husband, because he has a K3 registered to my account. He started reading it immediately. In pre-Kindle days, he would have had to wait until I finished the paperback and would then have complained bitterly about how dog-eared and messy it was.

When I look at the heavier hardback non-fiction books still waiting to be read, my heart sinks. Just holding the damned things is such a pain. And, as several people have said, if you travel a lot it is wonderful to take a whole library in a single device.

I expect it will take a considerable time for ebooks to take over completely. When I first had a PC 30 years ago none of my non-work friends had even heard of them. When I first had email, most of my friends were still on snail mail. And yet now even the least techie people have computers and email, although I expect we all know the odd person who is holding out.