Imagine rummaging through shoebox after shoebox looking for photos like you did 10 years ago.

Imagine rummaging through stacks of CD cases looking for a particular song. In my case, most of my CDs are either out of the case (and thus scratched) or have been stored in the incorrect case (thanks MaryBeth!), making finding a particular CD a nightmare.  

Not a pretty picture, right? That's because you've long recognized the benefits of digitizing your media - photos and music.  The Amazon Kindle 2 is to books what iTunes is to music.  

Here's the Kindle 2.  As you can see, it's only slightly taller than your average paperback:

And it's about the same thickness as a magazine:

What's so great about the Kindle?

• Like the iPod, you can carry your entire library with you everywhere you go.  The Kindle 2 stores 1,500 books.
• Never lose a book again.  Ever spend an hour looking for a book in a box in your attic somewhere? Those days are gone.
• It's cheaper than buying books. Yes, the device costs $350.  But once you've purchased the device, buying books is much cheaper. You can get a book for $10 that's currently in hardcopy for $25.  And paperbacks are usually available for $6 or $7.
• It's much easier to read than a book. Unlike a hardcopy, you can adjust the font to any size you like. I read mine at the "old man" setting, the second largest font available. Regular books are now almost unreadable by comparison.
• The screen is very crisp, as crisp or crisper than most printed books.
• You never lose your place. When you turn the device off or switch to another book, it returns back to the page you were reading once you go back to it.
• It has a built in audio reader. No, it's not like having James Earl Jones read a book to you, but it does sound much better than most computer speech you're used to hearing.
• It has a built-in 3G wireless reader (no extra cost or subscription required) that let's you buy books anywhere and wirelessly download them to your kindle in one minute.
• You can read for about a week before needing to recharge the battery.
• If you lose your Kindle it's not a disaster. Sure, you'll have to buy a new device but you haven't lost your library. All the books you've purchased are archived by Amazon.
• You can subscribe to newspapers, magazines and blogs and have them automatically download to your Kindle.
• > 300,000 books available, with hundreds of new ones online every day. Amazon's stated goal is to have every book ever printed available on the Kindle.