I waited months before buying my iPod Touch.  In fact, I started looking at them before the 2nd generation iPods came out.  I was trying to decide what I would actually do with it besides just playing music.  I was also considering buying a Kindle but couldn’t figure out what I could do with it besides read eBooks.

I finally learned that the eReader software that I used to use on my Palm Tungsten had been made available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  A couple weeks later, I had my new iPod Touch in my hands.

Getting the software

The eReader software is available for free on the iTunes App Store.  Just search for eReader.  They also make versions available for Windows and Mac if you also want to be able to read the eBooks on your computer.  The Windows version runs very well under Wine.  I had been using it on my Asus Eee PC before buying the iPod Touch.

Getting books on the device

If you create an account on Fictionwise or eReader.com, you can download the books that you have added to your library directly to the iPod Touch over your Wi-Fi connection.  The software also offers built in connections to a few book providers that I have never used and the option to add your own custom locations which I have also not bothered to use, yet.  Since Fictionwise lets you download books as many times as you want, you really don’t have any need to maintain local backup copies of the books.  I still occasionally download eBooks that I read years ago if I’m reading a sequel and trying to remember what happened in the original.

Managing books on the device

The bookshelf on the eReader application gives you the option of sorting by Title, Author, or date added to the iPod Touch.  The right side of the screen gives you the option of scrolling by first letter if you have a ton of books stored on the device.

You add new books by clicking the plus sign on the upper right side of the title bar.  If you want to delete a book off of the device (but still keep it on your Fictionwise bookshelf on the internet), click Edit on the left side of the title bar, the red circle next to the book you want to delete, and then the Delete button that pops up on the right of the title.

I wish they gave the option to tag the books.  I would like the option to tag that a book is unread or read, fiction or non-fiction, and what genre it belongs to.

Font Quality and Control

You can select 3 different default fonts.  Georgia, Helvetica, and Marker Felt.  Marker Felt is horrible for reading.  Georgia and Helvetica, on the other hand, are beautiful and very easy on the eyes.  You can set the font size for Small, Medium, Large-ish, Large, Huge or Gigantic.  The default is medium.  I regularly switch between medium and large depending on my mood.  After changing the font or font size, the book spends several seconds recalculating the current page number and total page numbers.  If you plan on testing several different fonts or sizes, I recommend going to one of the first pages of the book because the refresh starts on the first page and gives you control once it reads past your current page.  If you are hundreds of pages into a book, that could be up to 10-15 seconds. 

You can also reverse the color to black background with white lettering.

Page turning

One of the knocks that I have heard about eBook devices like the Kindle and Sony Reader is that they cannot replicate the feel of reading a book.  One of the nice things about the touchscreen of the iPod Touch and iPhone is that it gives the reader a little bit of the feeling.  You can change the page turns to work by either dragging your finger left and right, up and down, or tapping top and bottom or left and right.  I change that setting between all four options almost daily.  It seems that sometimes where I’m sitting just makes it easier to use one setting of the other.

I recently learned of a new eReader on the iTunes store that might someday replace my official eReader app.  Lexcycle makes an iPod Touch/iPhone reader called Stanze that also connects directly to my Fictionwise bookshelf.  It also appears to handle some book tagging and allows for some more precise font control.  I played with it for a couple minutes last week.  It seemed pretty impressive and when I finish my current batch of books that I’m reading, I might give it a more thorough review and consider making a semi-permanent switch.  In the meantime, the official eReader software handles everything that I really need quite impressively.

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