I used to read a lot. Then I grew up and had to get a job which came with overtime. It used to be that I would pick up a book to read while I was traveling somewhere. It’s a pretty good way to pass the time on a plane or in an airport on a layover. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of room left in my bag for a 700+ page paperback anymore. I’m taking steps to change that, but what I would really like is a nice, light and thin way to read multiple books.

On the hardware front it appears that Sony has been listening; mind you not directly to me, but to the public at large. There are those who think that reading on a display about the size of a business card is just dandy. Then there are people like me. We want a big display, something that can show me as much information as the standard paperback page.

Sony’s new device has a screen that does just that. Measuring 6 inches diagonally, there is finally a serious dedicated ebook reader to fill the void left by the Gemstar Rocket devices.

In the past all mobile devices, from cell phones to laptops have used LCD screens as displays. LCD’s are relatively thin and produce nice results, but they come with a price; power consumption. In a mobile device you want a long battery life but the technology behind the LCD really sucks at the power.

To read a book you want a nice display that is crisp and clear regardless of the ambient light. LCD’s can achieve this, but not without the help of built in lights. LCD display work on the principle of limiting the amount of light that passes through the display. The more light that is blocked, the darker the pixel appears. This necessarily requires the display to either reflect ambient light and provide enough contrast to keep things readable, or use a back light to provide uniform illumination through the display.

The display on the Sony device uses a fundamentally different technology known as e-Ink. This technology utilizes tiny capsules filed with white and black pigments. Depending on an electrical charge, the capsule will be either white or black. The display doesn’t block the light passing through it, rather it reflects the light shining on it much in the same way ink and paper work.

There are a couple of benefits to the technology. First, the display is just as readable in ambient light as any book. Second, there is an enormous power savings. There is no backlight necessary to make the dispaly viewable, and once a pixel has been set there is no further need to apply an electric current to it. In the standard LCD display an electric charge must be maintained to keep a pixel’s state. That continuous charge means a continuous drain on the battery.

What’s the end result? Well Sony claims that their new device is capable of displaying 10,000 pages of text before the 3 AAA batteries are depleted. Technically you could read 20, 500 page novels on a set of batteries. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Now the real deal maker has yet to be seen; will they allow users to load their own content on the device? The last dedicated device I knew of was the Gemstar Rocket eBook. Originally they did allow people to create and load their own content. Unfortunately, they offered a free, irreversable, upgrade which completly disabled the ability to load user content. That would have sucked slightly less if they bothered to tell people about the change.

I think that was due in part to their business model. They wanted to force the users to buy content from only one place; their place. Unfortunately this severely limits the usefullness of the device. You can only read what they want you to read. The content producers say this is to fight piracy. I think it’s just an attempt to maintain a monopoly in the market. You can only buy what they have, and Joe Average who just wrote the Great American Novel can’t get it read without passing through the filters of the established publishing industry. They’d have you believe this is necessary to protect the public from the crap out there. They’re not so quick to remind people that they used to think Tom Clancy was crap.

Sony isn’t new to the Digital Rights Management game. They authored the ATRAC spec behind the Mini Disc, and they have a technology in their Memory Stick memory chips called Magic Gate. You can’t call them a minor player in the market either. Not only are they a substantial hardware manufacturer, but they also have a substantial content production business. So, will the content producing side win out and restrict content to only that which is approved? Only time will tell.

Now for the news that really breaks my heart. This little device is only going to be available in Sony’s home market of Japan. From a business standpoint I understand this decision. The Japanese are much more gadget friendly then we in the States are. However, assuming I can load my own content, I would really like to have one of these. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve purchased Gray Market Goods. Sometimes you have to go out of your way to get the features and functions you want. Fortunately that’s getting easier in the world today.

In the end, will it sell globally? I don’t know. For me, personal content is an issue that will make or break the deal. What about the rest of the world? It’s hard to say. Apple has made a good showing with their iPod and the iTunes Music Store. They’ve shown that DRM can be minimal, unobtrusive, and live side by side with user content. I can only hope that Sony has paid attention and will be as open with their new device.

Regardless of Sony’s success or failure they have done one very good thing; they’ve demonstrated a technology and a use which their competitors will want to copy. Competition is a good thing.