I won't deny that I'm old-fashioned :) The environmental impact of paper vs e-books is something I had not considered, but the effects of producing e-readers i

I won't deny that I'm old-fashioned :) The environmental impact of paper vs e-books is something I had not considered, but the effects of producing e-readers is still non-zero. I'd believe someone if they told me the impact was less than paper books though. I'll also admit that e-books are more practical in some contexts. For instance, I prefer taking my kindle out for casual reading on the beach or in the park -- navigating the book, annotating, etc, aren't big issues for pleasure reading. In academia, there is also another advantage to e-books: an e-book never really goes out of print. In my second year of college, I had to order an expensive copy of Gaston Bachelard's La formation de l'esprit scientifique from the UK because it was out of print in the US. I look forward to a day when e-book annotation will suffice.