[eGeezer]

Thanks for the quick replies while I was out attending a movie and getting my library card. Although I don't totally agree, I like the analogy of the ugly kids on the playground.

I think, tho, the analogy is more like going to a playground and asking the parents WHY they have children. Of course, those of us who have raised kids have often wondered that, too, but the point is not to discourage those who have them, or tell them it was a stupid idea (or that their ugly kids should be kept in the house.) The point is that you have been thinking of having a child, and are looking for opinions.

Back in '84 I was asked by a little old lady acquaintance why I owed a PC. Instead of trying to explain, I merely asked why she tends her flower garden so lovingly and explained that the computer was my flower garden. Neither of us was interested in convincing the other their hobby was a bad idea. She just wanted to understand the attraction.

Perhaps my mentioning of the Public Library was confusing. I meant that my friend pointed out to me that there are many popular/contemporary eBooks available, as well as the p-books. That 2x4 (epiphany? Paradigm Shift?) is what opened my eyes that there ARE free sources of more than the dusty old volumes I hadn't even thought of since high school Lit classes 45 years ago.

As I said, I just couldn't get my head around paying more that even Amazon p-book prices for an eBook. I realize the first thing we pay for in a book is the content behind the type, not the media it comes on. But there is a reason p-backs cost less that h-backs. Therefore, when you remove the paper completely, why do they cost more than the same p-back which has been discounted and still provides a profit?

I have several p-books still waiting to be read, and I have a closet full of p-books I have read and will "someday" read again. Since most Library books are hardbound, they have never been attractive to me to read on the bus, camping, or traveling, so I haven't used a library since I left the Air Force in 1968.

I anticipate when I finally get my eBook Reader, I will end up donating the p-collection to my Library's next "Friends of the Library" event. (See the happy wife dancing?)

But I do appreciate all the responses -- without even a flickering candle amongst them -- that contained a lot of the info I was seeking. I hope this thread, even if it stops here, will help others understand that buying books from Sony and Amazon is not the only way to acquire popular/contemporary content.

Thanks again,
eGeezer

And while I was out and about, I realized that my "perfect" ebook reader will not require wireless, after all. Another "big duh" moment -- if I can download it to my computer, I should be able off load it to my ebook reader. I haven't confirmed it, but am presuming that news/mag/blog subscriptions are just as available via the USB connection.