One huge advantage is search. The ability to keep a title "in print" indefinitely. The ability for a new edition (update) without having to purchase a new physical item. The reduction in pulp/paper processing which means less trees chopped down.

Don't get me wrong, I love books as well and having something like the Kindle doesn't mean I would never buy a real physical book again. It's true that for a lot of material I'd go straight to a digital version, but I still see room for select books. This is unlike my current music situation where I don't buy digital-only versions of music, but instead CDs serve as a starting point and archival media.

The first Kindle was very poorly designed, what with the awkward angles and really bad button placement. The new Kindle is better, but even for grabbing purposes, the borders around the screen are too big. This is likely a product of the particular screen they sourced rather than a specific design requirement.

I think as a starting point this type of device is workable, but in the future I'd like to see something that bridges the gap between cold electronic device and warm analog page-turning a little better. Perhaps something with multiple flexible pages. It would be very handy to be able to look at two pages at once in many circumstances. There's a lot of room for growth in this product segment.

I'm not a fan of having a single source for content either. Hopefully this will be worked out in the future as more devices come to market and some additional "standards" are developed. I prefer to see it closer to the digital music marketplace rather than the iPhone app market for example. But with an even more level playing field.