I understand now, and I think I see where you are coming from - but I think we're speaking at cross purposes to each other. You don't want these features that I've described on your kindle, because you don't see your kindle as serving 100% replacement for all books.
I think the point that Gruber, the OP, and I were trying to make (though I could be wrong) - is that we believe the ultimate goal, the end-game for a kindle, is to be in every way as good as a book. Books don't run out of battery, don't shatter when you sit on them, textbooks have color, and can be flipped through.
I think you'll agree - that unless the Kindle has (at least) all of those features, you won't be able to replace 100% of your book usage with one - and you'll need to turn to other sources (either your tablet, or paper, etc...)
Power, for me, is probably the killer feature. I can be careful with the kindle, I rarely read/use textbooks when I'm not taking a course, and I can work around (painfully) the ability to flip through a book - but particularly when we are heading off grid for a while, trying to keep the kindle charged is always a hassle, and I'm always dragging along at least one, if not two hyperjuice batteries in my packout (though, admittedly, one of them also serves to keep my iPhone charged for GPS/Map usage)
Of course, on the flip side, I'm bringing my entire 200+ book library with me....
I don't see the value in a "100% replacement for all books" for the same reason I don't see any value in "100% replacement for all cooking utensils" or most other things. I can do a lot of things with my favorite knife, but that doesn't mean it would be better with a can opener attached to it.
Obviously longer battery life would be fine, but I wouldn't trade any size or weight for it. A color screen would be fine but I wouldn't trade any contrast or battery life or additional expense for it. A stronger case would be fine but I wouldn't trade cost or weight for it, and so on. It's a great device for reading novels, papers, long blog posts that I send to it. My ipad is a great device for movies and magazines. My computer is a great device for doing research and copy/pasting code snippets and playing games. My radio is a great device for listening to music or news in the car. My TV is a great device for watching movies and shows.
That's a mere 6 devices that pretty well cover my information and media needs. Not too bad considering I use at least twice as many different tools to make dinner.
I think the point that Gruber, the OP, and I were trying to make (though I could be wrong) - is that we believe the ultimate goal, the end-game for a kindle, is to be in every way as good as a book. Books don't run out of battery, don't shatter when you sit on them, textbooks have color, and can be flipped through.
I think you'll agree - that unless the Kindle has (at least) all of those features, you won't be able to replace 100% of your book usage with one - and you'll need to turn to other sources (either your tablet, or paper, etc...)
Power, for me, is probably the killer feature. I can be careful with the kindle, I rarely read/use textbooks when I'm not taking a course, and I can work around (painfully) the ability to flip through a book - but particularly when we are heading off grid for a while, trying to keep the kindle charged is always a hassle, and I'm always dragging along at least one, if not two hyperjuice batteries in my packout (though, admittedly, one of them also serves to keep my iPhone charged for GPS/Map usage)
Of course, on the flip side, I'm bringing my entire 200+ book library with me....