Kindle

A new version of Amazon.com's Kindle (the company likes to refer to it as a "Wireless Reading Device") is expected to be introduced on Monday. Have you ever seen one of these? They're a bit smaller than a hardcover book, though a good deal more thin, with a display about the size of your hand.

I tend to be, I will admit, what is often referred to as an "early adopter," someone eager to embrace just about any new technology. In my case, however, that's just about anything except electronic books. I read a great deal of material on my iPhone (before that, when I travelled a long commute by train, I relied on my Newton MessagePad), but it's inevitably short form — blog posts, newspaper and magazine articles, that sort of thing. I've never been the least bit interested in reading books in any form but, well, a book.

As much as I love to read, I love books — the physical embodiment of the book, and what it represents. And I like to see my shelves labor under the weight of books, both read and unread. I like to go to the bookstore, to wander and browse, pick up and leaf through the books I might want to buy. Even more than that, I adore old books. If it were possible, I'd have every book I bought printed on somewhat aged, slightly-yellowed paper, bound in cloth that carried the faint odor of thirty or forty years on a shelf.

I understand how such a device could prove very useful, believe me, I do — but in this instance, I think I shall continue to quietly ignore common sense.