We all take books for granted. They are cheap, plentiful, and easy to get, but that wasn't always the case. Books are the culmination of many different technologies into an almost perfect form factor. It is that 'almost' which has more than a few companies vying for your interest, and money, in the ebook reader market.

Ebook, as you might guess, is short for electronic book just like email is short for electronic mail. Like email, the ebook hopes to supplant those old, dusty things lining the shelves of your house. A number of different ebook formats exist including: mobipocket, FictionBook, and the Amazon Kindle format. Not every ebook reader can display every format, and in fact some formats can be used only with a particular device.

Which ebook reader will best suit your needs? That depends on what you consider important. We're going to take a look at four ebook readers to get a sense of what's available in the wild, and exciting, world of 21st century reading.

All of the ebook readers we'll be looking at use the same display technology: e-ink. E-ink takes the readability of printed text and marries it to an updatable display allowing the screen to show any number of books and graphics. At the moment most e-ink displays are monochromatic (black text on an off-white background), though full color e-ink is being developed and should be on the consumer market shortly. E-ink displays are readable in direct sunlight, unlike backlight displays, but since they aren't illuminated (in general) you can't read your favorite ebook curled up in your bed with the lights off without the use of a book light.

 

The Kindle

Amazon's entry into the ebook market has garnered a lot of attention. The Kindle costs $359 with most ebooks selling for $9.99 (the Kindle can hold around 200 ebooks, and when you add an SD card for extra storage it can hold even more). Many have poked fun at the Kindle's design, which is meant to evoke holding a paperback novel, but no one has suggested that Amazon doesn't know how to sell books.

The Kindle comes with something Amazon calls 'WhisperNet.' You may know this as EVDO, a highspeed cellular network available in most urban centers in the US. WhisperNet allows your Kindle to get online via a rudimentary web browser, search Wikipedia, and purchase and download books from the Kindle store right on the Kindle itself wirelessly and without a computer.

The Kindle store has about 180,000 titles, and I have found the selection quite good and the buying painless and straightforward. To make shopping on your Kindle even less of a burden Amazon links the Kindle to your Amazon account before they ship it to you, which means your Kindle is able to download an ebook or two right out of the box.

 

The Sony Reader

Sony has two models of their ebook reader, simply dubbed the Sony Reader, though the newest model isn't available just yet. You can buy the PRS-505 ($300) right now, and it possesses a couple of features that the Kindle lacks. First off, the PRS-505 looks fantastic (pictured in the header image above). The smooth lines and metallic surface might not be your cup of tea, but most agree that it looks good.

The Sony Reader makes loading your own content a little easier. The Kindle can store and display any Word or PDF file, but they first must be converted into the Amazon Kindle format (Amazon offers a free email service that you send your documents to, which converts the files to the Kindle format, and then downloads them to your Kindle). The Sony Reader supports PDF and Word files directly without the need for conversion. Just use the included software (which is PC only) or attach the Reader to your computer and drag the files to it. No conversion is needed.

Sony also has an eBook Store, though it requires a Windows PC to make purchases. Once the application is installed you tether your Reader to the PC and transfer purchases to the Reader. One upside to this method is that your ebooks are available for reading on your computer as well as your Reader. The eBook Store from Sony has a pretty decent selection, though the prices are often higher than the Kindle store.

Sony recently announced a new Reader called the PRS-700BC ($400, pictured left) which adds a few new features to the mix. The biggest addition is a new e-ink touchscreen display. Both the Kindle and the 505 have crisp displays but neither are touchscreens. The 700BC's touchscreen makes turning the page as easy as flicking your finger across the screen. You select menu options with the touch of a finger, and select and annotate text by pointing and dragging your finger across it. The 700BC also adds a built in reading light, so you can read your ebooks in dark corners. A faster processor makes the whole thing a little snappier as well.

 

The iLiad

The iLiad by iRex ($700) is the most expensive ebook reader of the lot, but it can also do the most. You can read ebooks on the iLiad, which uses the same e-ink technology as the others, but you can also draw on the iLiad using the included stylus and transfer your work to your PC. The iLiad, like the Kindle, includes wireless networking but in the form of the 802.11b/g flavor of WiFi.

The most interesting aspect of the iLiad is the geekiest: it has an SDK. An SDK, which stands for software development kit, allows people to build applications for the iLiad. These application add functionality to the device, transforming it from a single purpose device to something with an endless number of possibilities.

The iLiad lacks a devoted store, which makes it slightly harder to find suitable content. However, it does support the Mobipocket ebook format, and there are a number of websites that sell ebooks in this format. You'll just have to search a little bit to find the ebook that you're interested in. There is also a wealth of free ebooks out there that the iLiad is compatible with as well.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ebook readers. Many new additions to the markets will be ushered in during 2009, so if none of the currently available options fit your needs you may want to hold off until the next crop of readers hits the market.