The other disadvantage to Microsoft Reader is that it displays a white border around the text; I imagine simulating a "digital" page. Figure D shows the PC version of Microsoft Reader.

FIGURE D


Look at all that wasted screen space. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The downside is that on smaller screens, you end up with very little text actually being displayed. Other readers are capable of filling the screen with text and properly paginating it for the display. You can see the display of Microsoft Reader on a Windows Mobile device; and again, this is a 5-inch display, smaller screens will show even less text.

FIGURE E


More wasted screen real estate. Roll over picture for a larger image.

To its advantage, Reader allows you to create bookmarks, notes, highlight and export text, many of the things you would do with a printed book. It even offers text-to-speech for those that are visually impaired or would prefer to listen to the book rather than read. It does tend to sound a bit like a Speak and Spell though.

eReader
eReader's digital ebook reader has gone through a lot of names over the years. Originally, it was Peanut Press, then Palm Digital Media, and is now administered by Fictionwise. As its former name implies, eReader was originally the ebook reader designed for the Palm OS, but it now addresses more operating platforms than any other ebook software I have encountered.

It is this multi-platform usage that makes eReader the best of all the ebook software applications. There are versions of eReader for Windows, Palm OS, Windows Mobile and Pocket PC, iPhone/iPod, Mac, and the OQO operating system. There is currently no Blackberry version, but eReader is investigating production of eReader for the Blackberry. And best of all, every version of eReader is free.

Whether on the desktop or handheld, eReader will reflow and paginate the book in order to properly fit the display of the device it's on. You can have a border, like with Microsoft Reader, or fill the page with text. You can make bookmarks, highlight and export text, and create notes; it will also scroll itself. It has various themes you can apply according to how you want it to look, and you can even buy and load new books directly from the application. Figure F below shows the application on the PC desktop.

FIGURE F


eReader on the desktop. Roll over picture for a larger image.

The real benefit of eReader can be seen on a handheld device. No matter the size of the display, eReader will reflow the text and appropriately paginate the document. In Figure G, you can see eReader on that same 5-inch Windows Mobile device; but if the screen were smaller, it would still fill the display with text to make the best use of screen real estate.

FIGURE G


eReader is the best ebook reader on handhelds. Roll over picture for a larger image.

When it comes to creating ebooks for eReader, the eBook Studio is available for $30. I've used it quite extensively to create ebooks for my own use, and it's quite simple. I just cut and paste the text from a Word file into the Studio and create the book. You can create chapter links in the Table of Contents, images, footnotes, pretty much any formatting needs you may have in creating an electronic book. Figure H shows the interface for the eReader eBook Studio.

FIGURE H


eBook Studio from eReader is a simple ebook creator. Roll over picture for a larger image.