E-books are catching on...

...according to an article in today's New York Times. I've had a Kindle from Amazon for about a year now and I haven't looked at it in months. I thought it would be great: small and lightweight, perfect for reading in bed or traveling. No more balancing huge books while lying down and no more thought before heading to the airport; just throw the Kindle in a carry-on and off you go. With over 10,000 book titles and several newspapers, magazines, and blogs, it sounds perfect. So why don't I use it?

First of all, I don't like to buy books. It's a dirty little secret of mine. I have trouble parting with even the $10 it costs to buy a book on Kindle. I feel too committed to read it and too committed to finish it before I start another one. (This is after paying $359 for the device; you can buy a lot of books for that price. How many will you actually read in a year, anyway? It's kind of like paying $40 for a Costco membership so you can save a few cents on a loaf of bread. But that's another subject for another time.) That's just not how I like to read. I much prefer going to the library and checking out two or three books and seeing which one, if any, that I like. It's not unusual for me to start a book, put it down, and return it to the library unfinished. No investment, no big deal. Sometimes I'll take out a book several times before I actually read it. Most of them I never read at all. So what? Unlike Art Garfunkle, I don't keep track.

Another great thing about libraries is the ability to browse and discover new books. This is like the difference between radio and an I-pod. With an I-pod, you will always be limited to music that you're already familiar with. Radio, even terrestrial, has the potential to introduce you to new music that you've never heard before. Same with a library. Even though you can "browse" through new titles on Kindle and actually read samples before you buy, it's just not the same as browsing through the stacks at the library. You can pull books down if you like, read a sample of your choosing, and even take them home if you like. No obligation on your part.

Kindle boasts of over 10,000 book titles. That sounds like a lot, certainly enough to satisfy anyone. But I found that more often than not, I couldn't find a particular book that I wanted. To give just one example, there were tons of bestsellers but not one book by William Faulkner. I'll admit that some of the stuff I was looking for was off the beaten path, but Faulkner is hardly an obscure writer.

There's also the matter of not being able to use my Kindle in Mexico. I guess it was outside the wireless range or something. I could read what I had previously downloaded, but no more. That was disappointing; I was hoping to read a lot next to the pool. But that brings up another problem: there's a lot of water around pools and boring old white guys use a lot of sunscreen, neither of which go well with expensive electronic devices. There's also the matter of who's going to watch it while I take my occasional dip. I can't exactly fit it in my shoe like I do my wallet and keys. (By the way, Jerry Seinfeld pointed out the brilliance of that practice; who would ever think to look there?)

But the Kindle is a nifty little device and I don't want to knock it too much. After all, I'm not crabby old white guy, not yet at least. And I'm sure I'll use it more in the future. But for now, I'll continue to get my books at the library and my magazines and blogs on the Internet. (And the Crossword puzzle on good old-fashioned newsprint.) Besides, they just broke ground on a new library in our town!