Zenkitty, I'm not sure if you are on a PC or Mac, but there are really good software programs for either platform that will allow you to manage your ebooks.

I use Callibre on the Mac and it is really excellent - let's me convert files, catalog them however I'd like, etc. I also move some of the files to an external hard drive because they don't need to be on my laptop all the time.

My deal with eReader books is about the convenience not the price. When possible I buy my technical and reference books in electronic form so that I can have an entire reference set on the jobsite in my laptop bag. These are books that are priced like textbooks, so it's not unusual to be paying $90 for a book even in digital form. Beyond that it's lots of pulp fiction and things that I want to read to relax. When I'm on vacation I can read at least a book a day, so it's a nightmare to carry a bunch of books with me.

I also still buy the physical books. I'm a bibliophile and like having lots of my books around me, so there are some authors I tend to buy in hardcover and probably always will.

The new Tivo is CableCarded and working great. I LOVE having access to my Netflix Instant Queue.

The old Tivo, on the other hand, is not playing nice with the cable box in the other room. It is the same cable box that had been connected to it before, but in moving it, I had to move the IR cable. And now I can't get the cable box to communicate with the Tivo no matter how I adjust the IR thingies. Too frustrated to keep futzing with it right now, but I do want to get it working eventually.

So far today I have learned that the Magsafe connector on Mac laptops, though normally quite cool (and definitely a good thing on the several occasions I've tripped on my power cord) is INCREDIBLY ANNOYING when your laptop battery is dead.

the Magsafe connector on Mac laptops [...] is INCREDIBLY ANNOYING when your laptop battery is dead.

How? Too delicate to stay in place?

Yeah. It's very easy to accidentally remove. I can't really sit on the couch and surf with it, because any significant shift has a good chance of unplugging it.

ETA: The newer Magsafe connectors are quite a bit better about this than the older ones, so I've managed to improve my situation somewhat by switching the adapter with the one that came with my newer laptop.

My original Powerbook is primarily busted because the power-cord was too hard to come out. The socket is all wrenched out of place. Battery is dead, so it's very precarious and I can't move it much.

I'm startled by how easily the Magsafe comes out, but since it's not damaging anything, it's for the best. But with a dead battery it'd drive me insane.

javachick, I'm afraid what you want is never going to happen. Amazon/B&N doesn't own the copyright to those books, remember, they just pass licenses along to you. Publishers are not likely to give you an option like that when they might potentially convince you to buy your favorite books a second time

Yeah, that's my assumption. So it's not really a value to me. If I were still in QA and traveling as much as Meara or ND, then it would be worthwhile.

Oddly, what I miss most right now about my Kindle is the fact that the Kindle sits very nicely on top of my microwave right above my sink, so I can easily crank up the font size and read while washing dishes. Since I have no dishwasher, I spend a good bit of time washing dishes, and that is kind of awesome.

Hee. I am too clumsy for that. I bet I would knock it into the dishwater in the first load.

I use Mobi even without a reader of any kind. I use it for my Project Gutenberg books. So it would be nice to have that compatibility going forward 'cause I already have all these files. But I am really ambivalent about it right now.