What an idiot.
I described my PRS 505 to my girlfriend as 'essentially an ipod for books', and I think that's a fair description.
Would this clown punch me in the face for listening to my ipod on a plane instead of using a gramophone?
Does he use a manual typewriter, or does he write his books on a laptop using a word processor?
Maybe he pays a team of monks to write copies of his books out by hand instead of using a printing press?
My ipod cost roughly 50% more than my reader did, but I don't consider it to be an elitist purchase, and neither do I consider my reader to be one.
I found that I listen to far more music now than before I had my ipod.
I'm ashamed to say that I didn't read anywhere near as I should before I got my 505, but I have barely put it down since I bought it, and not just because of novelty value either.
I think the the £200 I spent on it was worth every penny, because I feel that my quality of life has been raised by my purchase.
I didn't buy it to show off, in fact I bought it because I'm emigrating soon and can't afford to ship hundreds of books overseas.
I'm sure a lot of other people buy them for similar reasons, people travelling on a shoestring for instance.
If it wasn't for my reader, I would shortly be losing every single book that I own. I have avoided that by spending £200. That makes it possibly my most thrifty purchase ever
I think a device that can hold the entire back catalogue of the Gutenberg project is of such immense value that it can't be measured in monetary terms, and to describe it as elitist is incredibly short sighted.
If I was marooned on a desert island and could only take one item with me, it would be an ebook reader equipped with a solar powered charger and loaded up with books
