I have used my Sony for just over 7 months and I already feel that I have received full value from the purchase. If a new one came out tomorrow with more features and half the price, I would not feel bad. As mogui said, if it meets your needs enjoy it. We are not in a contest to see who has the newest toys, we just like to read.
To my mind the goal of a reader is to get out of the way so that I can read without worrying about the mechanics of operating the device. Fo me the Sony completely fills this requirement. For others the page advance buttons are not properly placed and it is awkward for them to use. Some like the iRex page bar for changing pages. Others require a back-lit screen so all of the e-ink screened devices are not part of their consideration.
With the large number of recent announcements about new readers it should be an interesting year ahead. Even if 50% of them never make it to market there will soon be more devices than we can easily keep track of. All of this is in addition to the traditional devices such as the Palms and tablet PCs. In many ways it will soon be like buying a state-of-the-art PC, you know that what you just bought has been superseded by the time you get back home.
