Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad

...vs. any other eReaders out there about which I know nothing.

So, I feel it necessary to at least peek into the modern age, while keeping my feet firmly in the stone age.

Yes, I'm chiseling this onto a rough-hewn stone and magically it appears on the computer screen.

My birthday is approaching in the next couple of months, and I'm thinking that it would be a good time to have any family members who want to give a gift help me get something that I actually want/will use.

The problem is, I'm not sure if I really want an eReader. I'm a former high school and college English teacher! I like the smell of books. I like to underline and mark pages and run my hands all over the smooth spine.

Wait... we're still talking about books, right?

Some reservations I have:

- I rarely buy books. I usually get them from the library or someone gives me a book.

- Of the books I have purchased (which have mostly not been out of copyright, and thus would not be free), there are several that I didn't want to keep. I have been able to sell them to a used-book store and ended up reclaiming some of my cost. Not so with eBooks that I don't love.

- I know that many children's books are available in digital form, but when I read a book to C, part of the magic of snuggling and reading together is holding the book and letting her turn the pages. For H, the magic is solely in eating the book or throwing the book.

I'm hoping he wasn't switched at birth. I'm not sure any child of mine would ever eat or throw a book. Fortunately, he's the spitting image of my dad, so I'm going to assume for the time being that the book-throwing gene comes from M's side of the family. He likely had some delinquent Czech great-great-great grandfather who also enjoyed tossing books about the room.

- To prove I truly am living in the Stone Age, or at least the Dark Ages, I start to get all Fahrenheit 451 and fear that if everyone begins to purchase eReaders, and every new book is "printed" in digital format with only a few hard copies, then if some major catastrophe happens and the world loses power, we'll be left in a world without books.

My 3rd greatest fear in the world would be realized.

So, help me out. What are your pros and cons of eReaders? Which do you own, and would you buy it again? Price aside, would you use an iPad in place of a smaller eReader? Before purchasing an eReader, where/how did you get the majority of your books? Do you buy any books in hard copy now?
How likely do you think it is that my son was switched at birth? (Just kidding on that last one...)?