Two questions: are e-book readers (such as the Kindle or Sony Reader) actually worth getting or would it just be another gadget for me to lose?

Secondly, presumably you can't use them during take off or landing which is one of the main times I read so I would have to take a real book anyway?

I have the Kindle software on my iPod Touch and love it. It's not the same feel or experience as a book, but I'm getting used to it and it is certainly lighter to carry 10-20 books on my iPod rather than in my carry-on.

Yes, it's an electronic devise so you have to turn it off and stow it during take-off and landing.

I love my Kindle (v2) and wouldn't trade it back for paper books.

I also use it regularly during take-off and landing and rarely have issues with the FAs. Maybe once or twice since I got it. See also this thread - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...kindle+landing - for a discussion of use at the beginning and end of flights.

Also a huge fan of the Kindle. I don't miss paper books at all.

I bring a couple of magazines to read during takeoff and landing.

+1 on both counts. I love my Kindle2 and rarely have issues during takeoff/landing.

+2

I mainly read on my iPhone with the Kindle software. In fact I had made a commitment to read more and the Kindle software is helping me do it.

Here's an alternate opinion.

I don't get the whole kindle thing. I used a friend's and saw no benefit over paper books. The benefits I hear are things like, "It is easier than carrying around 20 books." Who the hell carries around 20 books with them? I don't need to be reading 20 books at once.

I think it is a gimmick and a percentage of those that sing its praises are trying to justify to themselves the high cost they paid for it.

Dammit...share it with the world. Bring the Kindle to Canada!!!

So, it seems that they are saying not to buy illustrated books or complicated textbooks with lots of tables, figures, mathematical equations and pictures for the Kindle. Im not sure that that is particularly newsworthy. That isnt what I buy for it.

I didnt pay anything for mine. The iPhone app is free. My wife actually probably has 5 computer science texts on hers at any given time which would weigh a pound or two each. Plus the WSJ delivered to it every morning as she heads to the train. I may be reading 3 or 4 books at a time, and I can have them all on my iPhone and pick the one I want without lugging them all around. Im somewhat agnostic on the Kindle device, but there is absolutely no doubt that electronic books are the future. Particular technologies will shake out, but paper wont be one of the survivors except as vinyl is for recordings.

I bet you're the type that invested heavily in laserdisc and betamax.

No one can read the future, even you.

We have invested in three Cybooks- pricey but the holder makes it feel more 'book like' and we can all read the same book at the same time. While some mockingly ask 'who needs 20 books for a trip', my family of voracious readers would carry just that load in knapsacks, etc on vacations. We gave up on library books (heavy, fines for late/lost; sanitary concerns). One tip- if your teenager (or clumsy beloved one) has an e-reader, invest in the accidental damage plan...

I'm actively reading several books at any given time. They are all on my Kindle, so when I travel I don't need to decide which to bring with me and then later wish I had a different one.

I'm a long time Fortune subscriber and have switched my subscription to the Kindle. Since the Kindle is thinner than a single Fortune magazine, I'm now only travelling with the Kindle instead of a Fortune mag and a book, so there's some significant space / weight savings in my travel bag.

I've switched my WSJ subscription to the Kindle, which of course is automatically delivered wirelessly to the Kindle daily, so now I have my daily WSJ edition with me when I'm travelling instead of having a stack of unread WSJ's waiting for me when I get home.

I don't like reading long documents / white papers / etc on my computer, so I email them to my Kindle (each Kindle has its own email address).

So now I have my entire library of reading material with me, and I can make real-time decisions wherever I am, whether on a plane, in a hotel room, having lunch by myself, at a coffee shop, etc., about what I'm in the mood to read.

I make annotations / highlights to the books / magazines / newspapers / documents that are on my Kindle, and then I use the search feature to search across all of the material and annotations on the device if I want to refer back to something I've previously read or noted. This is particularly valuable to search across the back issues of Fortune magazine that are on my Kindle. For example, if I'm going to work for a new client, I search my Fortune library to see if they have been mentioned.

Not everyone will "get it" and not everyone will see value in it. But my Kindle has had an enormous impact on how I consume information. It's hardly a gimmick.