When first reading about the Amazon Kindle, I thought for the first time you were posting some tech gadget that I was actually interested in.

I read alot. Like . . . a lot. Like, I ran out of room in my house for all the books I’ve read since I started law school alone and the overflow now fills the trunk of my car waiting for me to get my ass in gear and donate them to the library.

The idea of having all my books with me AND having free perpetual high-speed wireless access to Wikipedia (for which this device is apparently specifically designed), all on a screen that apparently reads just like paper, makes $400 seem worthwhile. The automatic bookmark and the ability to get brand new books at $9.99 rather than $30 for a hardcover and having to wait for it to come out in paperback to be affordable on my offensive salary are also pluses.

Also, there’s just some part of my (not so) inner nerd that loves the idea of having a tricorder. I have a library at my fingertips on a little electronic pad. I can just pull it out and grab factoids off Wikipedia. If I had this with me when I went shopping with The Bear, she’d never get pissed at me again for “not being enthusiastic.” Well, she still would, but I wouldn’t LOOK so bored, because I’d be in Wikiworld.

I think there’s more to this than just “it’s ugly.” I want functionality. It’s far more important to me than its aesthetostylistic appeal (that’s right, I invented a word. Po-mo ftw!). I mean, the iPhone? Who cares. It serves no function I don’t already have available to me and several I just don’t need. I have a Treo. I canceled my data service because I have only used it twice in two years. However, there are some quintessential aspects of paper books that I took for granted and didn’t think about until I started reading some reviews of the Kindle.

First, you can’t share your books. I thought this would turn me off to the iPod, but, quite frankly, I don’t share much music anyway. I love the iPod. I love downloading songs and being able to listen to clips before I buy them. I like how easy iTunes and the iPod itself are to use and the fact that it’s a big enough franchise that I can get The Decemberists’ 19 minute long single song album “The Tain” without having to deal with any snobby pseudo-intellectual douchenozzles at a rare/used record store. The kind who will tell me “you’ll appreciate that more if you read Nietzsche, because, like ‘God is dead.’” My iPod is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

Books, though, books I share. The Bear’s entire reading list for the past 2.5 years has been books I’ve loaned her. And she is a nerdier The Bear for it. (Robert Jordan we miss you.)

I’ve given away so many copies of “The Sparrow” by Mary Doria Russell that I’ve lost count. I’ve probably spent over $100 just on that book alone. And what does this do for a library? When the work itself is protected, where you can’t even borrow it? Will there be digital libraries? I somehow doubt that.

The second concern is the selection. I know 90,000 books sounds like a lot but think of your college library with 3,000,000 books - none of which you want to read. I have yet to see a list of what is available. This doesn’t mean it’s not out there, but only that I’m too lazy to look right now. I have this fear I’m going to end up with a big list of Oprah’s Book Club selections. But I read some esoteric ass books. Is Kindle going to provide me a digital copy of “Duncan’s Rituals of Freemasonry” (upon review “yes”) or “Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and their Journey” (upon review “no”) or a manual on field archaeology (”yes”) or how about “The Complete Enochian Dictionary: A Dictionary of the Angelic Language As Revealed to Dr. John Dee and Edward Kelley” (Holy crap! “Yes!”)? Ok, so I guess it does have a lot to offer. However, there are no Robert Jordan books except the prelude to a few books and only one by George R.R. Martin. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Finally, there’s just something about a paper book you can’t define. No glossy color photos on the Kindle. They’re never going to reproduce a first edition version of the original German “The Neverending Story” with the print in green when it’s in the real world and purple when it’s in Fantastica. The Kindle might someday have scanned the entire 7 volume “Encyclopedia of Freemasonry” but it will never have the original 18^th century plate prints or colored leather binding of my 1921 edition.  There’s just something about holding a book; the weight of it, the feel of the cover, the smell of the paper.  I’m not sure an electronic device can replace this with awesome storage and features.

I am truly torn on this device. I want one very badly. I can see this as becoming a device that I actually need to have with me, unlike my phone, pda, or hell, my car keys. At the same time, I can picture that it may change the experience of reading so drastically that I can’t adapt to it. Ultimately, if I was able to buy a $400 electronic device, this is the first one I’ve seen in a long time that I actually think would be worth it. Even if I may give up on it eventually.

Unfortunately, though, the ability to download books instantly may bankrupt me. It would be like carrying a bookstore around with me all the time. I’m sure The Bear just had a panic attack at the very thought of that.

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