I recently did something I’d never done before. I read an entire novel in e-book format. I know I’m late to the party. Way late. Welcome to the 1990s, and all of that. But quite honestly, despite thousands of attempts over the years, I’ve never developed the mental muscles needed to become a good “screen reader.” I’m one of those guys who has to print out everything I write before I can proofread and edit it. I download stories from the Web and immediately print them out, too. Sometimes, I even print long Web pages, so I can hold the information in my hot little hands. It’s not that I don’t try reading on screen. It’s just that I’m no good at it. No matter what I do, no matter how intently I focus, I tend to get restless and impatient after just a few minutes. I start to squirm. And pretty soon I’m scrolling faster and faster, skimming more than reading.

Then, about six weeks ago, I decided to buy a copy of Stephen King’s The Cell for my Palm. The book was already on its way from my preferred online retailer (I live in the wilderness, remember). I could have simply waited for it to arrive, but I wanted to get a head start. I figured I’d purchase the e-book, play around with it a bit, and read at least some of it before the hardcopy showed up in my mailbox.

As luck would have it, I picked the perfect time to do it. I had a lot of meetings that week and found myself spending way too much time just sitting around, waiting for board members to assemble, gavels to fall and proceedings to begin. In the past, I would have filled that time by staring aimlessly at the ceiling, chatting idly with other audience members or gazing with dismay at my growing to-do list. Suddenly I could pass the time a whole new way, by firing up the Palm and skipping right past the jam-packed date book, reading 20 or 30 pages of The Cell instead. I not only found it convenient, comfortable and useful, it was actually kind of fun, and much to my surprise, I finished the entire e-book two days before the novel turned up in the mail.

Will I do it again someday? Maybe. I don’t think I’ll ever get addicted to screen reading, and I certainly won’t opt for e-books over ink-and-paper or even audio, but I won’t automatically dismiss them, either.

So, go ahead. Tell me how out of date I am. Call me a Luddite. I can take it. But give me some credit for persistence, too, for trying again and again until I finally got it. And don’t be surprised if the next time you see me, I’m squinting at my Palm with a big grin on my face. Playing Tetris? Maybe … or maybe just catching up with the rest of the world at last.