After endless grumbling about the 7-10 books that I would pack into my luggage for every trip, DH bought me a Gemstar ebook in 2002. I loved it, especially the backlighting (it made a great nightlight in unfamiliar hotel rooms), but it was hard to see in the sun and the book selection wasn't great. In 2003, Gemstar discontinued it. However, before it disappeared, I bought about 40 books, and then only used it on vacation so that I could make them last until a new reader came along. In 2006, I discovered that Fictionwise had bought the rights to the old Gemstar reader and I could buy new books from them. I only had about 5 books left by then, so I immediately loaded up again, and started using it all the time. Luckily, when my Gemstar finally started fading last year, the Kindle had been released. It's a huge improvement in most ways (and so many more books are available for it), but I must say, I do miss the backlighting.