E-Book Reading

I've been reading e-books since I got my first Palm IIIx. The small screen was less than ideal. I never used the Palm as a primary reading platform, but it was a convenient secondary reading platform. I could read when waiting in the doctors office or during those surreptitious free moments.
Since I was unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen, I was limited to what I could find for free. To my pleasant surprise there were a ton of classic books available from a multitude of sources.
I used the Palm, and then a Clie, for several years. Once the Clie finally died I moved to a Pocket PC for a year, but that never worked an e-book platform. (In fact it was so clunky it didn't really work for much of anything.) Then I went for a while with out any pocket computing device and no e-book reading.
I was intrigued by the Sony eReaders. The big problem was the price.... I couldn't justify spending the money, when I would still need to pay full price for books. I also couldn't see the eReader replacing my love of actual books.
When I got my iPhone, I started getting interested in e-books again. There were several e-book readers available for the phone and I tried a number of them. The screen, while small, was pretty good for reading. The apps all handled the basics, but I finally settled on Stanza. It had the most sensible set of features and an integrated means of downloading books. It offers access to many free books as well as some pay libraries.
I was still unwilling to pay for books to read on the tiny screen. The iPhone screen creates a much better reading experience than the Palm or the Clie did. It is still too small to work as a primary reading platform, but it is exceptional for those quick stolen moments when I can read a little.
When the Kindle burst onto the scene, I was marginally intrigued. The big screen was the real draw. I thought the wireless book purchasing idea was interesting. However, it was too expensive and the price of the books was too high. I also didn't like that fact that I could not touch the device before purchasing.
This summer Sony revamped its eReader line. The one that caught my eye the most was the Pocket Edition. The $200 price was right and the smaller size made it very portable. The other thing that made the Sony line interesting was their move to using ePub and their ability to use books from public libraries.
I spent some time at the Sony store playing with the Sony readers. The Touch Edition's screen was not as crisp as the Pocket Edition. The Touch Edition's touch was not so responsive. I could, however, see either being a great primary reading platform. The ability to get books from multiple sources, including the public library, makes them the most open of the top readers. One other nice thing about the Sony eReaders is the availability of covers that include built in night lights that actually light the screen.