Is this the book of the future? Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP
Sony is launching its Reader today through Waterstone's - the device it claims will usher in the ebook revolution. It's not the first such gizmo: Amazon has launched its Kindle in the USA and the Iliad reader has already been available online and in Borders stores in the UK.
Much has been made of the usability of these devices, their "bookness", even. You can read the Reader, Sony claims, in bright sunlight; you can magnify the text to suit you; its battery is sufficiently longlasting as to enable you to read War and Peace five times (or so they say).
Alas, I'm one of those people who really loves books - I mean real books - old books that you've re-read over and over, and the tea stain on page 153 is where you spilt a cup in 1990 because you were weeping for Isabel Archer. Oh, it's sentimental, I know. But there it is.
The one thing I think is brilliant about the idea of the ebook, though, is weight and convenience. It would be wonderful not to have to lug books around, especially on trips away from home; I, for one, could do without all that back-breaking carrying-around of stuff. Some people may also like the thought of losing the books from their homes. As soon as the iPod came in, many happily ditched their CDs, as unnecessary, space-greedy clutter. (Though books are infinitely more attractive than CDs and I think there's no better furnishing for a house than books.)
A piece in the Bookseller gives an in-depth sense of what the ebook might, or might not, mean. Personally, I won't be rushing to Waterstone's to buy a Reader. For a start it's available only for pre-order today, so no Readers are available in time for summer hols; books will be available to download only from September.
Second, the Sony Reader is going to cost around £199. Amazon's Kindle is $359 in the US, while the Iliad reader sells for £399. Presumably, the prices will come down in time; for the moment, I'd rather spend my money on actual books.
Lastly a salutary point from an early Kindle adopter: when you leave your well-stocked e-reader on the bus, you lose an entire library.
