From Engadget’s lengthy review of Amazon’s revamped Kindle e-book reader:
All in all, the hardware has been seriously streamlined, and the result is nothing short of gorgeous. Besides being evened out and pulled in, the Kindle 2 is also astonishingly thin – just 0.36-inches – which makes it a pleasure to carry, though we miss some of the bulk of the original for reading duties. It’s not a huge deal, but besides the frequent mis-tapping of buttons, we still feel the original more closely replicates the “book holding” experience. But ultimately, the question that will be nagging most people here is, “why didn’t they do this stuff the first time around?” and it’s a valid one. It’s amazing to consider how many (original) bad hardware choices have been overcome with this new design, but also somewhat vexing if you were an early adopter.
I’m still not sold on the whole idea. Paper and ink is by far the best medium for reading – especially in long sittings.