I personally can't wait for them. But not as they're distributed right now. The Kindle is in some ways such a huge step forward, but it's also a bit like the first person who thought of the iPod was, instead of Apple, IBM. And they made this beige monstrosity and tied it to a proprietary MP3 format they had the clout to make nearly universal.

No one minded when Apple did this with the iPod (well, most people didn't mind) because Apple creates such salivatingly beautiful hardware that everyone wanted one, and iTunes, too, was pretty much the best jukebox out there. So they tied up the MP3 market for a good long time with their hardware/delivery system one-two punch and made a lot of money. Eventually, Amazon got into the MP3-selling biz and Apple opened up their format a bit, and it seems likely that more sellers will move into the market eventually. Plus of course bands sell MP3s from their websites now.

The same formula will eventually happen for e-books, I think. But in the meantime, the Kindle is no iPod; it's kludgy to use and ugly to look at. It has well-noted hardware defects. So instead of saving up my pennies for it, the way I did for the iPod, I find myself impatiently waiting for Amazon to realize that they don't have Apple's hardware-design chops and open up their Kindle editions to other e-readers. Sony has a nice one. Asus will reputedly have a two-"page" design color one out soon. Apple and Microsoft are both rumored to be around the corner from debuting tablet PCs that will inevitably also serve as e-readers.

And I am *dying* for it to happen. Some books I'll always want as hard copies -- anything with beautiful pictures, all my beach reading, and books I love so much I really need their physical hard copies near me to be happy. But academic books, which wear out from re-use, I would LOVE to have as e-books, so I wouldn't lose all my margin notes every time my copy of Heart of Darkness cracks down the spine and I have to buy another one. And inevitably I know I'd pay for copies of other e-books just to be able to get the book nownowNOW and not a week from now when it arrives in the mail.

So, in short, dear E-book and e-book reader manufacturers: hurry the fuck up. I have lots and lots of money I'd like to give you if you'd just get your shit together.