It just had to happen one day and it has been on the cards for some time , but the real Digital Book has finally arrived in the guise of the Sony Reader Digital Book PRS505S.



Before the advent of digital books audio books had taken the market place not exactly by storm but well enough to become a billion dollar industry world wide.

Whilst audio books have many upsides however one of the down sides is that nothing quite compares to sitting quietly and reading a book, but all that is about to change with the emergence of another technology....The Digital Book.

Its going to be interesting to see where this technology goes and what will become the main market place. On the one hand you have the book reading fraternity that really prefer the written word.

This market sector will be able to download "real books" and enjoy them as they traditionally would, although perhaps until the no doubt on the way waterproof version comes along, it will probably be best to stick to traditional paperbacks for your beach vacation.

With living space becoming increasingly smaller you will now be able to have a huge digital library that doesn't require you to be sitting at your computer to read which is a real plus in my opinion.

But there is another market place where the digital book could make an impact and see huge sales and this is in the business market.

Each day sees the transfer and downloading of literally millions of .PDF and word documents world wide. Quite often a busy exec or professional will take these home on the laptop to read in a more relaxed atmosphere, or perhaps while they are commuting on a train where it is not always convenient to open up your laptop or notebook.

Having spent hours all day possible on a laptop or computer the last thing many want to do is spend even more time at a desk or with a laptop sat on their lap so the idea of a truly digital book reader will be utopia and very appealing to the busy professional.

A digital book will make the quest for knowledge and information much more relaxing as it can be done almost anywhere.

For example, if you have ever tried to use a laptop out side or in the garden perhaps you will probably have given up as on a sunny day a laptop screen can be almost un-readable

Well technology always seems to prevail and this fact has been a real problem in the past and has obviously not gone unnoticed, the Sony Reader Digital Book for example employs a new technology called E Ink Technology to overcome this traditional problem.

Essentially this new display technology allows the text to be displayed almost book like and the resultant page can be read in direct sunlight which is a major advantage. Equally the page can be seen at very wide angles as opposed to having to be read face on.

In addition to making the text readable in bright sunlight the display is also very much comfortable on the eye making the reading experience far more enjoyable than reading of a standard screen.

Quite often battery life for portable devices can be a real problem as well, but another benefit the new display technology has is that once the image is displayed no power is required to maintain it.

This gives the Sony Reader outstanding longevity and by all accounts the reader will be able to display around 7000 pages between charges which is absolutely amazing.

With the ability to read multiple formats, hold over 150 books, and be ultra compact and light Sony has a real winner on their hands here and I can foresee that this will be a must have productivity tool for any busy professional from the CEO down to the sales team.