Amazon's new Kindle e-book device -- touted to make reading easier -- may be setting the digital world aflame, with initial supplies quickly selling out after its unveiling last week despite its $399 price tag.

Company officials say they're not sure if those who order now may get it in time for the yuletide holidays.But experts say it may take many months, if not years, for Kindle and other e-books, such as Sony's similar Reader device, to make their way into the digital mix among Long Island's libraries and public schools.In the past decade, new technology has dramatically changed the information and entertainment offerings on local shelves and in classrooms. Fuzzy VHS cassettes have given way to high-definition and Blu-ray DVDs. Aimed at ears rather than eyeballs, audiobook downloads for iPods have become plentiful.

So far, however, e-books -- of which Kindle is the latest version -- haven't made much of a dent among the Island's ever demanding digital literati."It's going to be a long time for the schools to convert, because of the cost of these machines," says Rita Kaikow, a library media specialist at Oceanside High School and president of the Long Island Media Association, a 200-member school group overseeing technology mostly in Nassau County. "If you have a large school, how do you buy and safeguard this equipment?

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