The screen is same size as an iPhone. At least with the 4th gen ones the resolution helps make it more readable than I thought it would be.

Still, my Sony e-Reader is a much better experience especially outdoors.

Apple has a free iBooks app. You can try that with some free books to see if you like it.

Hmmm. But then how will I have time for Angry Birds?

Actually, I was thinking about trying the iBooks app. (Because my laptop is ancient and still runs Tiger [and therefore can't run the newest version of iTunes*], I can't use an iPod/Phone with any 4.x iOS, so I had to get a 3rd generation iTouch.** But it looks like the iBooks app uses 3.2, so I should be in luck.)

At least with the 4th gen ones the resolution helps make it more readable than I thought it would be.

t edit Oh, yeah. I forgot that the resolution is supposed to be much better on the 4G versions. Well, I'll still give it a shot and see how it looks.

*(I know I could run Leopard on my iBook, but not Snow Leopard, since it's not an Intel Mac. And at this point, with 10.6.6 out, I need to start looking at my budget to just get a new computer.)

**(Which is fine with me, because the iTouch is replacing an iPod mini. Remember those? I think it's from 2005. Possibly 2004. So the leap in iPod technology, even though it's to 3G and not 4G, is enough to make me happy.)

Because my laptop is ancient and still runs Tiger [and therefore can't run the newest version of iTunes

??? It seems so very wrong that my Windows computer can run a newer version of iTunes than your Mac.

??? It seems so very wrong that my Windows computer can run a newer version of iTunes than your Mac.

Right??? But my iBook is 6 years old. It's held up admirably, and I'm so used to it that I keep resisting changing. It can only run iTunes 9.2. Any 10.x version needs Leopard or higher. And, honestly, even if there were a decent workaround to get past that on my geriatric iBook, I don't want to deal with the complications to do it. iTunes 9.2 is fine for me. I'm sure I'll get a new Macbook some time this year, and then I can update the iOS on the iTouch.

I've read some books on my (1st gen) Touch, and it works ok. It does get a little eye strainy after a while, but I could read a couple-few chapters at a time

I've read some books on my iphone with the kindle app. I'd rather read on the kindle, but it was do-able.

I have a 4G Touch and apps for... lessee: Stanza, iBooks, and Nook. I might have had a fourth that I deleted. I thought Stanza was much better than the others, actually. But I also don't use any of them that much -- I put some free ebooks on in case I need a time-killer, and one how-to (ish) book that I only read in bits and pieces anyway. If I had a long metro commute or something, I'd use it then. I don't like reading on it enough to do so when I'm at home and have already been staring at screens for 8 hours.

-- Oh, but a friend has the 3G and she definitely reads on it a lot; we were talking about that recently. I'll ask which apps she uses.

I have a bunch of e-reader apps on my iPhone and I never use any of them. (Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Stanza...maybe one other one?)

I love reading on the Kindle, but I think mine may be dead. It's a first-gen I bought used for $75, and unfortunately I can't afford to replace it with a new one, so I'm hoping I can bring it back to life or maybe just replace the battery.

Well, my 4G Touch will work for e-books, but I'd never call it a replacement for an e-reader.

The nice thing about iBooks is that it will accept pdfs, so I put knitting patterns and the like from the Internet on there, so I can get at them, even when I have no wifi.