Books are going digital — and bringing a whole new set of reading opportunities to the table. So, with financial advisors’ growing need to consume information as efficiently as possible, electronic books and eBook readers can prove to be useful tools.

In fact, eReaders are now more than a fad. Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Seattle-based ecommerce giant Amazon.com Inc. , said in July that sales of downloadable eBooks on his company’s website would surpass paperback sales within a year. And, much like an increasing number of companies, Amazon has an eReader that makes reading eBooks a snap.

The Amazon Kindle, first launched in 2007, has gone through a number of iterations. However, all versions use electronic paper, a material from Cambridge, Mass.-based E-Ink Corp., designed to marry the best aspects of paper and electronic displays. The advantage of this material is that it consumes power only when a page is being turned. This means you can spend hours gazing at a page without worrying about the batteries running out.

For financial advisors, eReaders such as the Kindle offer a couple of key benefits. The first is that many of these devices — the Kindle included — allow users to transfer PDF files to them. This means you can easily load your business documents onto the eReaders — perfect for that extended trip to the cottage. The other benefit is that eReaders are increasingly offering users the chance to read newspapers and magazines, so you can have quick, daily access to news and markets.

Amazon has just launched the latest version of the Kindle, an 8.5-ounce device with a six-inch screen. It has enough capacity to hold 3,500 eBooks. Perhaps the Kindle’s most appealing feature is its ability to download eBooks wirelessly from the web.

You can use your Amazon account to order and download eBooks online. Aside from the speed in accessing the books, the other upside is the cost; as Amazon doesn’t have to keep inventory or ship those eBooks, they are often far cheaper than their paper counterparts. There are more than 550,000 eBooks available from Amazon Canada that cost only $10 — including many bestsellers.

Sony Corp. was one of the first companies with a dedicated eReaders. Like the Kindle, Sony’s version uses epaper to keep power consumption down. It is available in a touch-sensitive format, enabling you to control your eBooks reading experience by poking and swiping at the screen. You can pick up a version of the Sony Reader Touch edition, which also has a six-inch screen for as little as $200 (they normally sell for $250). Sony also sells a cheaper Pocket edition, with a smaller, five-inch screen, for $150.

Perhaps the most appealing part of Sony’s eReaders is their direct integration with Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. ’s Google Books, which allows those who own a Sony eReader to download more than one million copyright-free books from Google at no charge.
@page_break@This arrangement hints at where the real battle will take place in the eReaders market. As the hardware is relatively easy to produce, it is the selling of the eBooks themselves that presents the biggest challenge. That is because of the associated copyright issues. The
eReader company that does this best will succeed.

Although Amazon already has a head start in this area, others are catching up. For example, Google is set to launch its Google Editions eBookstore service this year; it will enable companies to sell eBooks directly to consumers. Although the service will initially be available in the U.S. only, it probably won’t be long before it’s seen in Canada.

Other book retailers are also getting involved. Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group Inc. sells the Kobo eReader device in Canada through Toronto-based Indigo Books & Music Inc. for $128. The Kobo ships with 100 public-domain eBooks, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, out of the box. Kobo features its own internationally available online eBookstore, which sells a variety of bestsellers and other titles.

New York-based Barnes & Noble Inc. isn’t wasting any time, either. It sells a digital reader, the Nook, which not only features epaper, it also contains a smaller colour touch screen that can be used as a control pad. The Nook is available in a Wi-Fi-only version, which would suit Canadian customers better, as the 3G version is not supported by Canadian wireless providers.

Although not officially available in Canada, the Nook can be purchased in the U.S. and registered using a U.S. address (as provided by a specialist service such as U.S. Unlocked). The Nook enables customers in Canada to buy e-books from the Barnes & Noble e-bookstore, downloaded via Wi-Fi.

These dedicated e-readers are particularly useful for people who go on long trips without access to power. However, the devices do have significant drawbacks. They do not offer colour displays for reading and their technological limitations make them difficult to use for animations or video.

Tablet computers with dynamic displays offer a more feature-rich reading experience. Apple Inc.’ s iPad is the most popular tablet device, although others are coming onto the market. Apple offers its own eReader application and lets customers buy eBooks from its store. However, the selection seems a little limited. For instance, Andrew Ross Sorkin’s damning treatise on the financial collapse, Too Big to Fail, was nowhere to be found on Apple’s service but costs just $10 from Amazon’s Canadian Kindle store.

Amazon, though, offers a version of its Kindle application for the iPad, meaning you can read any Kindle book on Apple’s device.

Where the iPad really excels, though, is in the consumption of magazines and newspapers using applications specifically designed for the Apple device.

For example, Wired magazine produces an interactive version, complete with animations and videos, that sells for the same price as the newsstand version.

Newspapers and magazines the world over are beginning to do the same thing. IE