Even in this age of digital everything, there’s still a place for good, old-fashioned books you can hold in your hand; you know, real paper, real pages, real ink. After all, it’s hard to bring your laptop with you into the bathroom for some reading material, and it’s equally difficult to prop your desktop on your bed for a little reading before going to sleep.

Amazon, the Internet everything seller (although it got its start just selling books), agrees — to a point. It knows that reading on a computer screen doesn’t equal the experience of reading the printed page — it’s harder on the eyes. That’s why it invented  Kindle, which combines the ease of reading a printed page with many of the benefits of electronic media.

The Kindle, about the size of a paperback novel, has its own wireless network, which can be accessed to download a wide range of e-books, magazines, newspapers and Web pages. It displays everything in black-and-white, and with no backlight. Those were conscious decisions by Amazon, to make the experience as much like reading a book as possible. You push a button to turn the pages, which makes one-handed operation possible.

The internal memory can hold up to 200 books, and external SD memory can be added to hold much, much more information. The wireless access is free, although there is a cost for most of the books, magazines, etc.

On the other hand, it’s pretty cool to have hundreds or thousands of books all stored on one device — that should cut down on the number of bookshelves and book clutter around your place. The Kindle isn’t cheap; not by a longshot. But if you like the idea of combining the experience of reading the old-fashioned way with the convenience of electronic delivery and multiple types of media, you may decide it’s a worthwhile investment.

Happy reading!