Kindle vs Books

Today I was waltzing about my favourite shop, Exclusive Books, and as my sister and I were considering which Sherlock Holmes volume to purchase, when a man came up to us and suggested that we download the free eBooks. I told him eBooks hurt my eyes, and he suggested we buy a Kindle, an eBook reader. I've seen a Kindle before, and I love the fact that it has a 'dull' screen so it's easy on the eyes, but at the same token, it doesn't have a book smell or feel. But in any case I figured it wouldn't hurt to research it and see whether it is worth saving up for.

Pros:
- eBooks are quick to download
- Gentle on the eyes
- It's light
- You can carry your library around with you (reading fiction during lecture made easy)
- You don't pay extra for hardback books
- You can adjust the screen format to suit your needs (bigger font, etc)

Cons:
- There's no book smell
- There's no turning of pages
- There's no 'hardback' version, so no spine labels on my books
- Chances are, my mother will see the electronic device as a distraction from my studies and confiscate it as a form of punishment. She's done this with my books before, but it's easier to hide a Kindle than it is to hide a thousand paged book. Also, the Kindle would have all my books, which means all my books would be confiscated.
- Because technology comes with unaccommodating prices, we'd probably only get one. So my sister and I would fight over it, thus increasing her argument about me being her 'arch enemy' (See, she's going through this Sherlock phase and refuses to call me anything but Mycroft and responds to nothing but Sherlock - She even changed our names on my mother's cellphone address-book. She's sixteen years old.)
- Lack of physical books means I won't have enough reason to build a secret library with a secret passage in my future home.

The Kindle is about R 1 600 if I'm not mistaken. Currently, the A Song of Ice and Fire box set is just under R 1 000 at Exclusive Books. I'm sorry Kindle, but that box set comes with a map of Westeros and the Seven Free Cities, which already has a spot on my wall. Maybe next year.