An interview with The Washington Post’s Rob Pegoraro aired this morning on NPR. The topic? Whether the Kindle makes for good beach and poolside reading. The verdict was mixed.

On the pro side: a few drops of water aren’t going to kill the Kindle, and the fact that the screen’s not backlit makes it easy to read even in the sun.

On the con side: the Kindle isn’t going to survive getting buried in the sand, and you’re going to be a lot more worried about it getting stolen than a dog-eared paperback.

All in all, I think even if I owned a Kindle I’d fork over ten bucks for a paperback at the beach… just for the peace of mind of being able to leave my book thoughtlessly behind for a dip in the ocean.