Ebook readers

[musingaloud]

I have yet to jump on the ebook bandwagon.  One reason is trying to decide which ereader to go with.  I'm a cheapie at heart, so I tend to lean toward the least expensive, but I believe that's the Kindle, and it irks me that you can only buy books from Amazon.com -- although typically that *is* where I buy all my books, so why that bothers me is a mystery even unto myself.  Also in line with my cheapie philosophy is why should I spend so much $$$ on a device to read a book when I can buy the book and hold it in my hand?  Ebooks are a little cheaper than paper, but when one factors in the cost of the ereader, well I guess eventually it does pencil out, but it would take a while, and besides, I *like* my paper books.  But my biggest fear is I'm a visual person.  I like having my books sitting on a shelf right in front of me.  If my TBR pile is invisible, I'll ignore it.  When it's taking up space on my shelf, I can't ignore it.  Hide the titles in the innards of an ereader (who has the time to scroll through all the hundreds of books I'd end up with?  Is there a place where "unread" books are listed separately in the library?) will be an obstacle for me.  Out of sight, out of mind, that's my tune.  Another question I have:  is it true that ereaders aren't lit?  How does one read them in bed at night?  That makes no sense to me.  Computer screens are lit, why aren't ereaders?  Or am I misunderstanding that?  That's where I do the bulk of my reading these days.  I use a book light, but it wouldn't fit on a ereader, so I imagine I'd have to fork out more $$$ for the light.  I don't know, I imagine in the end I'll love it to death, but right now, it just doesn't seem all that shiny to me.

Interesting ereader links:
Nathan Bransford's polls on ebooks:  Will you ever buy ebooks? 

CNet article on Kindle vs Nook vs iPad, which e-book reader should you buy? 

CNet:  How to find free books for your Kindle. 

From the above article on CNet:  Amazon listing of free public domain books for Kindle