Read a Book

eBooks have been the technology that has been on the verge of revolutionizing our society for the better part of a decade. eBooks are essentially publications that were packaged in a PDF format with a table of contents. A testament to the promise of eBooks is Google’s effort to digitize every book in existence, and that most libraries offer eBooks for loan. What has hampered the true emergence of eBooks are their readability. The idea of flipping through a PDF file is not as appealing as actually curling up with a good book, but I think that it will be in the not to distant future.
There are a multitude of devices that can be used to read eBooks. The problem is that they aren’t practical. I wouldn’t want to read a book on a cell phone for the same reason that I wouldn’t want to watch a movie on an iPod, the screen is too small.
eBook readers enter stage left. These devices have sought to bridge the gap between paper and digital publications. The genre has evolved relatively quickly. They migrated from merely being an integrated function of other devices like laptops and smartphones to becoming the featured feature on a device. Many early eBook readers sported an LCD screen, navigational buttons, and a whopping 128 MB’s of memory for your eBooks.
More recent eBook readers have a feature called epaper which makes reading digital documents closer to reading paper documents. With reading eBooks as the primary function, newer readers offer a suite of functions that only enhance the eBook experience. One of the most noticeable features in all of the newer eBook readers is the capacity to store a personal library’s worth eBooks on one device. There are three eBook readers that stand out in field.
Sony’s Reader is a compact eBook reader with a bevy of navigational and document functions, but it is more than a bit overpriced at nearly $300. I have seen them locally at CompUSA. You can take the display for a spin and see if it is a good fit for you or the reader in your life. The Iliad from iRex is by far one of the strongest eBook readers on the market. It boasts the navigational features of Sony’s reader, but offers a wi-fi connection in conjunction to it’s ability to play music and store pictures. The Iliad also allows you to write on the screen with it’s stylus and save your notes. It is slightly heavier than the Sony Reader, but there is value in the weight.
The only reason that the iRiver eBook Reader is not crushing all other eBook readers is because it is not on the market yet. Unlike the other two readers, iRiver’s reader has two display panels and opens like an actual book. Adding to the attractiveness of this device is the fact that two AAA batteries can power it for six months.