I don't use our iPad 3 for reading much, since for me it's too heavy.

I've been using an iPod touch for reading for a while, mostly with the Kindle app or occasionally iBooks for stuff I can get without DRM.

That said, I think I'm going to be switching to the Nexus 7. It's light enough to hold while reading and the Kindle application on it is allowed to let me buy a book from the end of the free sample, which the iPod Touch Kindle application cannot.

The only DRM-controlled ecosystem I would consider investing in is Amazon's. No one else comes close in amount of content and availability of reader applications.

I recently bought a number of technical ebooks and was pleasantly surprised to find that the publishers offered DRM-free ebooks that worked very well on iOS and Android readers. One was from Manning and another from O'Reilly.

tommy, I would either use Amazon or B&N and stick with it. The selection is pretty comparable and similarly priced, and they each support basically every device out there. You won't get an ideal DRM world at the moment - the publishing industry is still pushing for DRM that is sillily restrictive. There are small publishing worlds that aren't awful - SmashWords, Baen, etc - but the main books are still locked down. I think B&N's ePubs are slightly more open, but just slightly.

Perhaps the best thing to do, if you don't mind doing things that might be illegal, is learn how to break the DRM from Kindle books or Nook epubs. That will give you security against the future. I turn my Kindle books into DRM-free Mobi files backed up on my computer, which I will be able to convert into any format I want in the future if need be.

The userbase of both Kindle and Nook books is high enough that I think you're pretty secure in their usability for the foreseeable future.

Calibre. And stanza if you want. But you can convert non drm files to whatever you want in calibre, so you can, for instance, make them all mobi files to read on the kindle. Or whatever

Tommy,

is the book you bought DRM'd?

Calibre can probably break the DRM so you can read it in Kindle's app.

I use Kindle on OSX

is the book you bought DRM'd?

I assume so.

Calibre can probably break the DRM so you can read it in Kindle's app.

Cool. I'll have to give that a try.

Thanks for all the recs, everyone.

Tommy, there's a plug-in you can get: google drm removal calibre, that should find it for you.

I love my iPad for reading while eating. It props up nicely, I can use a knuckle or side of my finger while not having to hold a book. I still like hard copies, though.

Oh, see, that's why I like my kindle better for eating--one clickbutton, no swiping, so easier one handed than the iPad, and less feeling like I"m going to get food all over it from the swiping. Hadn't tried knuckle though.

The iPad is no handed, so good for sandwiches.