Kindle and me: seven months later

For my birthday in June, I decided to buy myself a Kindle with an Amazon gift card I had received from my family. At first, while I was excited to receive my first e-reader, I wondered how much I would actually like it compared to reading "real" books. After all, I had fallen in love with reading through physical books, and I loved the very essence of them—the paper and ink, the different fonts, the cover art, the entoxicating smell of a new book. These are things that I still enjoy, and I don't think I would ever read e-books exclusively, but at the same time, I've discovered some real advantages to the format:

1. Weight—my Kindle weighs about the same as a paperback, so even when I'm reading a very long book, it's easy to carry around.
2. Durability—I always take a book with me to work to read on my train journey and during my breaks. Because they are bouncing around in my bag with my other things, paperbacks tend to get scuffed, or the covers might get bent or frayed. Not so with an e-book. My Kindle stays safe in its Neoprene cover, ready to slip out and read at lunch time. 
3.  Reading while eating—anyone who reads all the time will tell you, it's hard to eat certain foods while simultaneously trying to hold a book open and turn pages. The Kindle lies flat on the table next to you, needing only a finger to press the page-turn button.
4. Switching between books—if I'm reading something and come across an allusion to Shakespeare or a quote from the bible that I want to check out, no problem: I can be there in a few clicks.
5. Taking notes—I've never liked writing in physical books; it's always seemed like vandalism to me. But on my Kindle I can highlight passages I want to remember, and I can type notes at any point in a book. Handy! I can also see highlights from other readers, which is interesting.
6. Traveling light—Going on a trip, or moving? You can take your whole library with you without weighing down your luggage. Sweet!

Of course, I've noted a couple of disadvantages too:

1. Battery life—the Kindle has an amazingly long battery life. And while only having to charge it once a month certainly seems an advantage, I find that I have to charge it so infrequently that when it comes time to do it, I forget! Admittedly, this is a personal problem and not the Kindle's fault. But still.
2. All books look the same on the Kindle—You don't get all of the wonderful variations of font and paper that you have with physical books.

Overall, I'm really happy with my Kindle, and I'm glad I bought it. I still read plenty of physical books, and will continue to use my local library for many of these, but I find it nice to be able to toss my Kindle into my bag and know that I'll have a choice of several different books to read, wherever the day takes me.

So, Dear Readers, what are your thoughts on e-books? Would you ever read them exclusively, or are you old school all the way?