I read. I read alot. Our living room is has two large bookshelves filled with books. We head to the bookstore at least once a week. My pile of books that I have bought and plan to read is about two feet high right now. You’d think that I’d be all over the Kindle 2 since I read so much, but I really have no interest right now. There are 2 main reasons.

Cost

The Kindle 2 costs $359. Each book costs $9.99. The last 6 books I bought at the bookstore cost me a total of around $95 (A few hardcovers and a few Buy 2 get 1 Free). To read those books on the Kindle 2 it would have cost me around the same amount. Add in that I’d have had to pay the $359 for the Kindle and we’d be looking at $455. In fact, the book Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki costs $18.65 for the hardcover and $16.47 for the Kindle version. For two dollars more, I have a version that I can let my wife read, give to a friend, take notes in the margins or even sell.

If the Kindle versions were much cheaper and I could see a point where I’d save money by buying the eBook versions of what I want to read, then I might make the switch. I just don’t see how I’d save money at all by buying a Kindle and eBooks.

Comfort

I own an iPhone. Before that I had a BlackBerry and before that I had a Handspring. I don’t talk on the phone very much, but I do use the devices to read. I currently use an RSS reader app on the iPhone to read quite a few websites and find that after about an hour my eyes get pretty tired. Sitting in from of a computer screen all day is hard enough, so relaxing with a smaller screen isn’t very appealing to me. A book is a bit easier on the eyes.

I took a look at the iPhone Kindle app and, while it is free, the books still cost the same. It will be interesting to see how rapid eBook readers gain traction and how much of a dent they will really put into the sale of paper books.