Back when PDAs first entered the market, techno-geeks everywhere trumpeted the end of “dead tree” books and print media. PDAs were, they said, so much more portable, fitting easily into your pocket, and with their ability to download just about any document, they were sure to replace cumbersome books in a heartbeat.

But, as normal folks quickly realized, PDA screens were difficult to read and so small that they displayed barely one paragraph at a time — if you could even find a book worth downloading onto your device. Good luck finding anything current to read, much less magazines or newspapers.

Apple’s iPhone didn’t even bother promoting itself as an electronic book reader: the whole notion of replacing books with a hand held device was that dead.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I logged onto Amazon.com this morning and found their front-page announcement of Kindle – Amazon’s wireless electronic reader.

Weighing in at just 10.3 ounces, Kindle is lighter and thinner than most paperbacks but holds up to 200 titles at a time. It easily fits in your hand — it’s barely thicker than a pencil — and offers thumb navigation that can be configured for both lefties and righties. And it’s truly an electronic book reader with wireless connectivity that provides instant access to over 88,000 books (including 100 out of 112 of the NY Times Bestseller list), magazines, newspapers and major blogs wherever you are. You can even access Wikipedia for reference material on the go.

Simply connect with Kindle to Amazon’s service and use the built-in QWERTY keyboard to order your reading material, which is instantly delivered to your device. Amazon’s not charging for the wireless connection, which is truly surprising since users can also email Word documents and pictures to their Kindle device for portable viewing. You don’t even have to find a WiFi hotspot: Kindle uses EVDO, the same high-speed data network used by cell phones.

Since the Kindle allows users to bookmark pages, there’s no reason to read in a hurry. Even the long life battery is designed to let you read at your own pace, with a capacity that can hold its charge for up to a week.

As for readability, Amazon has adopted a high-resolution display called “electronic paper” that actually uses ink particles displayed electronically to offer a 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 4-level gray scale. Text size can be adjusted with the push of a button, which makes the device friendly for those of us whose aging eyes get tired of squinting at small words on a screen.

Not that you’d be aware for long that you’re actually looking at a screen. Users say that the Kindle is so well designed and so easy to use that it practically disappears into the background once you start reading, making it quite possibly the perfect gadget for book lovers ready to bid farewell to dead tree press.

So, VH, if you’re reading this: I wants one!

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