Amazon's E-book

E-read all about it. On Monday, Amazon debuted its much-anticipated e-book reader — the Kindle — and set the book world abuzz.

The goals of the electronic reading device are simple: to replace bound paper, and to change the way we read and buy books. Lofty, but maybe not impossible goals, for our wired, jacked up, on-demand world.

Purists warn against putting books in electronic garb: Beware of the effects on our culture. Read between the lines. We'll do just that, with a concerned critic and a top technology writer.

This hour, On Point: Reading 2.0 and the future of books.
-Sheilah Kast 

Guests:

Steven Levy, senior editor at Newsweek, he wrote this week's cover story "The Future of Reading." He's the author of several books, including "The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness."

Sven Birkerts, essayist and literary critic, he's the editor of AGNI magazine and author of several books, including "The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age."