Digital media is quickly replacing its older, more cumbersome counterpart by squeezing vast amounts of information into small, portable and user-friendly products.

Until I saw the Sony eBook, I never thought books could fall into this category. For starters, reading "War and Peace", or even "Tuesday's With Morrie", on a computer screen isn't relaxing. It's hard to get into the story or feel comfortable sitting in your favourite computer chair, surrounded by the warming glow of a 21" monitor. It just doesn't work.

The Sony eBook changes all of that. It's portable and small enough to go anywhere a regular book can, and even doubles as an MP3 player and photo album. But its biggest feature is Sony's E Ink technology and revolutionary paper-like display, which won't leave you rubbing your eyes by Chapter 2.

The letters appear crisp on the 6-inch display and are easy to read - at any angle. There's a built in LED light for night owls and five different text sizes to choose from on the new PRS-700BC. Big upgrades over the 500 series are the touchscreen display and the stylus pen. The pen lets readers search their text by word and quickly browse through the up to 80 titles the unit's hard drive holds.

The eBook also doubles as a personal notepad and briefcase, supporting Adobe® PDF, Microsoft Word® and a variety of other documents. Users can transfer files using either a memory stick or SD card, or through their computer via USB.

While it's hard to imagine a day when libraries hand out Sony eBooks or something similar, remember the evolution of the mp3 player. It's only a matter of time until we're using digital readers for everything from newspapers to magazines, and even "War and Peace".

Learn More
Readers can browse through a multitude of books by author and title by visiting Sony's eBook store online at ebookstore.sony.com.