I got my 80 yr old mother a Kindle for her birthday. Her idea. What with arthritis in her hands and the size of a lot of books, holding regular books was becoming problematic. Now she can take her Kindle to doctor’s appointments, etc and read what she wants. When she’s done, she just slips it in her purse; hardly any weight at all.
I don’t have a Kindle, but I know a lot of professors who do. Now that I have an iPad with Kindle, I read a lot for work and pleasure on it. The iPad lets me tote a ton of material without having to lug it around in my bag. I don’t have arthritis in my hands, but I am middle-aged and it’s nice not to have to carry everything I may read in a day from journal articles to email to student papers.
Books are nice, but so are ebooks.
Interestingly, the first recommendation I got for a Kindle (loving mine) was from some one who bought it for her mother. She and her sisters take turns downloading mom’s reading list. Their mother nearly gave up on reading and this has been a blessing. She can adjust the font and some of the books have a voice reader that she can play when she gets tired to help her read along.