E-readers - seriously?

[the86d]

When the zombies come, I'm glad my reloading manuals are tangible.

[chiefcrash]

Everyone hypes the new fangled (ok, not so new) e-readers like Kindle and the like. But I absolutely don't get it. The only feature (for a bookhound like me) that is useful is that they can hold thousands of books. However, that does not outweigh the negatives I've read about them, which is everything:

1. You don't actually OWN the books, you've bought the rights to read them
2. These rights can be rescinded at the whim of the pereson providing them
3. You're paying the same price as an actual book, but don't own it
4. You can't just loan a book to someone without following the express guidleines the provider outlines
5. The cost of a reader itself

Now tell me, where in all of that is the appeal?

1: Depends on what you buy. It's entirely possible to buy DRM free books, which you then OWN. You can even make backups, which you can't with real books. That way a fire doesn't destroy your entire library.

2: see point #1
3: Most ebooks I see are cheaper than real books, especially hardcovers
4: See point #1 (Or, even with DRM ebooks, you can loan someone the reader like a traditional book)
5: About the cost of a decent bookshelf?

[ambiguous216]

Appeal is to be fancy. Now u can also get a toyota corolla for about 15k or a Lamborghini for hundreds of thousands. Both do the same thing take u point a to point b.

Everyone hypes the new fangled (ok, not so new) e-readers like Kindle and the like. But I absolutely don't get it. The only feature (for a bookhound like me) that is useful is that they can hold thousands of books. However, that does not outweigh the negatives I've read about them, which is everything:

1. You don't actually OWN the books, you've bought the rights to read them
2. These rights can be rescinded at the whim of the pereson providing them
3. You're paying the same price as an actual book, but don't own it
4. You can't just loan a book to someone without following the express guidleines the provider outlines
5. The cost of a reader itself

Now tell me, where in all of that is the appeal?