Turns out that while Amazon and Sony scrabble for the rights to own the e-reader market - such that it is - it could be the humble mobile phone that storms past into first place as the device of choice.
It makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Cost of entry: none - most of us own a mobile phone to start with so you don't need to come up with a spare £200 to take part. Plus the reading bill appears on your mobile statement, so you don't have to manage another set of transactions - which can be a real barrier to adoption.
In fact, this Forbes item suggests that Apple's iPhone is already proving more popular than the Kindle for reading books, with downloads of the free Stanza reading application outstripping Kindle sales by a long chalk.
But other mobile phone companies are also taking the idea seriously from a commercial "paid-for" point of view. Vodafone is to launch Vodafone Books on Mobile today, and are dodging the small screen, no e-paper problem by offering audio books at between £5 and £15 according to the Times. (Apparently Andy McNab is one of the names behind the project).
And finally France Telecom, which we know over here as Orange, is also trialling a mobile reader service - this time with a dedicated device.