I very much want to like the Kindle [1], Amazon's new e-book reader. I am a fan of e-books -- or I would be, if it weren't such a dreary experience to read them on most devices. I used to hang off a subway strap in NYC reading e-books on my Palm IIIe (believe it or not, I used to write papers that way, too -- with my Palm-holding arm wrapped around a pole or through a hangstrap, scribbling furiously with the stylus).

Kindle, with its leather cover and e-paper screen, seems like a vast improvement over reading on my Palm, but it has to be really good to make me want to sit down on the sofa (or lie down in bed) with it and read a book. I read on the Palm because it was well-suited to the necessities of subway travel; now that I'm not on the subway ever (because I no longer live in NYC) I am far pickier about the reading experience. I want Kindle to be the answer -- lugging around a bag full of books is a pain!

I'll be watching closely to see what happens...