Electronic books, also known as eBooks, or eReaders, were the first gadgets featured on the BBC’s Working Lunch Tuesday gadget feature ‘Declan’s Tech Shed’. Each Tuesday, Declan from Working Lunch will be trying out the latest gadgets and gizmos, things that will make work easier or life more enjoyable. Yesterday, Declan looked at electronic books.

Electronic books or eReaders can replace a whole bookcase – you can download a whole library of electronic books onto them to read. The first electronic book featured on Working Lunch was the Sony Ebook reader, or e-Reader. The Sony e-Reader has a special paper-like display making it easy to read even in bright daylight. You can save hundreds of books onto memory cards which can be easily inserted into the Sony e-Reader.

Click here to purchase a Sony electronic book, or e-Reader

Working Lunch’s Simon went to test out several e-books on some librarians from the British Library. Steven Berry, Jeremy O’Hare and Rory McCloud were each given e-books to try out and compare to traditional books. The general consensus that the advent of the eBooks would not signal the death of traditional books, but they were very impressed with the feel, look and functionality of the electronic versions.

The ones they tested are available to buy online and you can do so by clicking on the links below:

The Sony E-reader priced around £199

The BeBook E-reader priced around £229

The Cybook by Bookeen

The Iliad Reader priced around £389

There was another A4 sized eBook reader featured but Working Lunch did not reveal the name of the manufacturer. Whilst the larger eBooks like the Iliad were less portable due to their size, both of the ones featured you could write on, and they could save your notes.

Ebook readers are a new technology and currently can be slightly difficult to buy online. But there are websites where you can download hundreds of electronic books for free, and eBooks are sure to become the ‘next big thing’ – just think of the advantages for, lets say, a student who no longer has to cart 10 different books around campus all day. All can be carried on a sleek portable eBook reader.

Related Articles

• Music Players as seen on Working Lunch
• Swan Teasmade as seen on Working Lunch
• Free Will from Will Aid as seen on Working Lunch
• Heart Rate Monitors as seen on Working Lunch
• Canvas Holidays as seen on Working Lunch
• Save money on Electricity Bills as seen on Working Lunch
• Save money on phone calls as seen on Working Lunch
• Angels Den as seen on Working Lunch
• Start with the Answer by Bob Seelert as seen on Working Lunch
• 118800 Directory Enquiry Service as seen on Working Lunch