Those of you that know me, and those that have seen my (somewhat intermittent) blog postings here over the years know that I am an avid reader. I own over 1,600 physical books in my personal library, and have been DYING to try an ebook reader since they first came out many years ago. 
Well, this Christmas I finally got my chance. :-) First off, the Sony touch screen reader is a beautiful thing. It is light, has a smooth finish, and a design that is very pleasing to the eye. It comes in three colours: silver, black, and red. I have the red.
My friends think it is a bit odd to buy a gadget that “only does one thing” when you can read books on your Blackberry or iphone. But in my opinion, and as my hubby commented, “Going from reading a book on an ebook reader to reading it on a Blackberry or iphone is like going from texting on a Blackberry to texting on a cell phone.” LOL Once you have done it, you don’t want to go back.
The reader comes with 512MB of internal memory. They say it is enough memory for about 350 books, or (in my case) the new Jann Arden CD (Free) and about 130 books. It also has memory card expansion slots, so you can go hard with adding books, audio books, music, and pictures. Did I mention it plays music while you read? :-)
Another cool feature the reader has is it’s ability to create bookmarks and write in your books. It comes with a stylus that can be used like a pen to write on the screen, or you can tap and get a keyboard to use. I tried out this feature in church. I downloaded a bible into my reader and then used the notes feature to take notes on the sermon. It worked great! I can see how this would be a great asset to students who can access their textbooks on a reader. Another good feature for students is the built-in dictionary. All you have to do is click on a word and the dictionary meaning pops up!
Before I made this purchase I also considered the Kindle. There were two main reasons that I chose the Sony reader over the Kindle. The first is that because I work from home I have constant access to my computer for uploading new books or newspapers. The wifi feature in the Kindle is cool, but not that huge a selling point for me. (But the new Sony Reader in the US has wifi as well).
The main reason I bought the Sony reader is that is allows you to easily read a wider variety of book formats on it. I have assorted ebooks I have collected over the years in different formats and (so far) have been able to get them all to work on my reader. The other HUGE advantage the Sony reader has is the ability to download and read library books on it! Yes, you don’t ever have to buy content: you can just borrow it.
So, you can read the ebooks you already have, buy from the large selection on ebook sites like the Sony Reader store or Kobo, or get free content from your local library! All three options are a bit light on some types of books, but the selection is constantly improving.
Sony has other ebook readers available, and there are also offerings from other companies. There are a large amount of companies getting into this market as seen at CES this year, so I am looking forward to seeing what new advances come along in this category. Until then I will be enjoying my Sony Reader every chance I get!
