I only have an iPod Touch, but the software and features I will describe in this post are also valid for the iPhone. In the title I carefully avoided calling the iPod Touch an ebook reader. Yet, I do know the expression, ‘If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck’. Ebooks can be copied or uploaded to, stored on and read using the iPod Touch and iPhone, but I am still reluctant to call the iPod Touch an ebook reader. My definition also includes it being based on E-Ink/Vizplex technology that is less straining for the eyes than a computer screen. But that’s just me, if you want to stick with the duck test, that is fine too.

Stanza cover flow

I also have a BeBook, a 6 inch E-Ink/Vizplex ebook reader device, and this means that I can compare the iPod Touch with a real ebook reader.
I will discuss 4 ways or means of reading ebooks on your iPod Touch or iPhone. All 4 ways of reading ebooks keep track of your position in the books, like a bookmark.

Stanza

Stanza is a free application for the iPod Touch and iPhone. You use it to download from a vast selection of over 100,000 books and periodicals, and read them on your iThingy. You can also use it to buy ebooks and to upload your own ebooks (courses, syllabus, reference material, …) from your computer using the Stanza Desktop application. In my opnion, your iPod Touch isn’t complete without it. I am not going to describe all the features of Stanza, because you can read them on their website.

Stanza ebook

How does Stanza compare to the BeBook ? The freely available ebooks for Stanza are also available for E-Ink devices like the BeBook, Hanlin v3, CyBook, Sony PRS, iLiad, … and for reading on your computer. When you consider the reading experience the BeBook is the absolute winner. What do I mean with reading experience: easy on the eyes (less straining), font size, readability, manipulation, turning pages, reading in bed, comfy chair or outdoors …
It is only when you take portability into account that the iPod Touch scores; using the BeBook you will need a handbag or small backpack to take it with you and the iPod Touch fits in a pocket of your coat or trousers (the kind with sidepockets) or you can clip it to your belt.
Those are the differences that matter to me, although I must add that for uploading new books to my BeBook I need an USB connection to a computer. For the iPod Touch the vicinity of a wireless network is enough and as for the iPhone there are no such limitations.
Stanza also offers custom bookmarks and a search function.

PDF

There is no built in way to store PDF’s on your iPod Touch or iPhone, but it does include a PDF reader. When you download a PDF document using the Safari browser the PDF reader will open and you can read the document, but when you close it and are offline it is no longer available. There are several applications available in the iTunes store that allow you to upload to and store PDF’s on your device, but there is a free workaround available. Add an email address to Mail with a provider that allows huge attachments, I use a GMail account, and send the PDF ebook that you want to read to that address and then download it on your iPod Touch. Even when you are offline the ebook will remain available in your inbox. This only works for recent emails, because after a while they are no longer in your cache. In the Productivity App Store you can find some free file managers like Discover that wiil allow you to upload and store some files.

PDF emagazine

I must admit that when it comes to reading emagazines, the digital version of magazines, the iPod Touch outperforms my BeBook. Emagazines like php|architect and Linux Magazine are unreadable on my BeBook, but not on my iPod Touch. I read these emagazines in landscape mode and use maximum zoom. The texts in those magazines are displayed in 2 columns and using maximum zoom the iPod Touch screen will display 1 column of text in a readable print. You will have to scroll up and down but that doesn’t hamper the reading experience that much. Reading a technical ebook is a different story (programming, server management, …); here you will not only have to scroll up an down to read the text, but also left and right to read 1 line. It will look like you need a finger to read and the only thing missing to make you look like a moron is to start mumbling.
Apparently there is more than 1 PDF reader available. For example, when you open a PDF document from Mail, you can only scroll and zoom, but when you open a PDF document stored via Discover you can also add custom bookmarks. You might want to give some other solutions (storage and PDF readers) available in the iTunes store a try if you want more features.

CHM

CHM PHP manual

There is no native CHM reader on your iPod Touch or iPhone, but there is iCHM. There is a paid and free version available in the iTunes store, but it is worth the money if you regularly use CHM files. Using this app the iPod Touch offers a better reading experience than my BeBook for CHM documents. Meaning better navigation and a better display of the contents (colors, quotes, code samples, graphics). Very useful for looking things up, reading a chapter, studying the specifics of a PHP-function, … There is no search function, but the table of contents and index are available.

Apps

App comic

There are also a lot of ebooks available in the Apps Store. Some are completely free, like Shakespeare, others are just a teaser to wet your appetite for buying the full version and for the rest you have to pay. The ebooks in the Apps Store cover a wide variety of topics: historic, action, comics, collected works of, health, religious, fiction, politics, …
It is good enough for short reads, but not for reading a whole book in 1 go or for reading hours on end for reasons I’ve already mentioned before.
Some of these ebooks have a search function, a usable table of contents and custom bookmarks, but the user interface can vary a lot from ebook to ebook or more precise, from app to app.

iPod Touch and iPhone versus BeBook

App Shakespeare

Why have both devices ? Well I bought my BeBook for reading ebooks and my iPod Touch as a toy.
Doesn’t the iPod Touch offer more value for money than a BeBook ? The BeBook is a bit more expensive than a 16 GB iPod Touch (Belgium, 2008) and the iPod Touch offers a lot more features: wifi, internet, email, games, calendar, weather, ebook reader reading ebooks, RSS, calculator, music, video, photos, productivity tools, taking notes, … With the BeBook you can read ebooks (and listen to music too if you really want to). So which device offers more value for money ? That depends on your needs. If you want to read ebooks: novels, courses, manuals, technical books, … that are in a suitable format (file format and page size) for an 6 inch E-Ink device, than the BeBook offers more value for money.
Reading experience. For reading an article in an emagazine (PDF), looking something up in a manual (CHM)  or reading a chapter in a book (Stanza) the iPod Touch and iPhone are a good enough choice, especially if you want to combine it with the other features those devices have. For reading books, reading hours on end and reading outdoors buy a real ebook reader device.

Conclusion

If you want more features for the same price or less than an E-Ink ebook reader buy an iPod Touch. It is good enough for short reads like an article or a chapter. I use my iPod Touch as an ebook reader to read ebooks when I am sitting on a train or in a waiting room, for those odd moments that might otherwise seem a waste of time.

Want to buy a BeBook ?

Then I have some very good news for you: by using the following email address as a coupon you will get a 25 EURO reduction when buying at BeBook:

bebook4johan@gmail.com

I am not employed by BeBook or Endless Ideas BV in anyway, but I admit there is something in it for me as well.