Plastics are the only way to go, robust and light, likely to be durable and useable with the minimum of care, just like my dog-eared books that have been pushed in and out of bags, propped in corners and used as placemats.

The issue of thinness can be corrected by covers, but I cannot safely prop-up a bulky and fragile glass reader, or stack two of three on top of one another as I read (I tend to read a number of things at once, as the mood takes me), plus when researching I would love to have a desk littered by readers.

Thin and glass fronted does not sound a good combination, thin and plastic – now that is another thing.

Paper books convey all their physical features across a magnitude of about 1 to 100 in weight, size, thickness, etc. In fact each paper book transmission is physically different. Although the reader does not need to specify these features, there is ample variety and scope for preference. E-book advocates mention the font size option because it is a rare exception to the insipid conformity of each transmission to the same screen.

I’m a big fan of the Kindle. Huge fan. For a while, we were a 2-Kindle household. As I write this column, we’re a 0-Kindle household. I busted one of the Kindles (an Amazon-furnished review unit) by putting too much pressure on its screen in my jam-packed roller bag briefcase.

Then, last week, to make sure I had props for my video coverage of the new Kindle, I begged my wife for hers. Her last words as I slipped it into my bag were, “Don’t do to my Kindle what you did to yours.” I swore I’d take good care of it. Somehow, though, the lens of my Nikon D70 smashed her Kindle’s screen, too. Beware. Kindles are delicate (and unlike the Kindle 1, the Kindle 2 does not come with a protective cover… now there’s an aftermarket for those).

Kindles are very expensive, and in a comment above HeavyG raises the question of durability. If the first version of the Kindle is fragile then what degree of ruggedness can be expected from the new thinner Kindle 2? Perhaps a container or cover is needed at least for transportation.

Certainly a thinner object is more likely to flex (all other things equal) but different materials can provide the stiffness that say an eink screen might need to handle the stress so to speak. Thus the Kindle2 has an alloy back plate. Will it prove to be stiff enough? Time will tell.

I’m one of those that rarely use my Kindle sans its stock cover. I find it too tricky to hold without the cover plus I feel that the cover provides additional protection from flexing and gouges when tossed into my bag. When I get my Kindle2 next week I doubt that I will use it sans cover either.

I also keep my iPod Touch in a flip case – so maybe I just like to dress my toys up