Kindle and Guilt

I have been using my Kindle for a few weeks now.  I enjoy how quickly I can purchase new books and the ability to have all of my new books with me.  The reading experience is very good and the device is light and follows a good form factor for reading one handed.

While I'm frustrated by the slow migration of older books to the Kindle, my most significant issue lies in the guilt I have about being one of those people.  Being one of those people means that although I'm reducing the demand for paper and the need for killing trees (a replenishable resource) I'm slowly killing off physical books stores and responsible for the consolidation of booksellers.  If everyone adopted the e-reader we would only have Apple, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble (.com) as the source for books.

What we need is an open standard for these e-books so that any store can sell books online and an e-reader would be compatible with all e-books regardless of where it was purchased.  Perhaps this is too idealistic since the manufacturers of these e-reader devices are building into the cost of the device the assumption that the customer will purchase content and, therefore, is able to offer the device at a discounted price.  If we did have more of an open standard for the e-book the e-reader manufacturers would need to realize profit only from the sale of the device and, as a result, the device prices would increase from the current price.

The bookseller industry is certainly in transition right now.  I would hate to loose the variety of location options to purchase books but I would also hate to give up the convenience of my Kindle.  We will have to see where the future brings us.  One thing is for certain; the future of this industry will look different than it does today.