There's something magical about curling up beside the fireplace in a big old comfy chair on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or relaxing in a warm bubble bath, hot tea by your side and a great book in your hands. The hours can pass idly by, pages turning in a steady rhythm that rarely breaks course. The smell of the book and the gentle rustle of the pages being turned create a peaceful, even intoxicating atmosphere.

With the advent of the internet, and the capabilities of file storage and transferring, the possibility to make books available online for download and reading became a reality. But let's face it, sitting in front of a computer screen while sitting in a computer chair that isn't necessarily designed for long term comfort was not an attractive proposition. An external device that could take advantage of the format, and allow perusal of e-books away from the computer and in a setting more suited to being transported inside the book's world, seemed like the perfect solution.

Early attempts at transferring this formula to electronic device were met with limited success. With clunky designs and interfaces, limited selection of titles to choose from, and a process of loading the e-books into your devices that occasionally bordered on difficult and frustrating, complete with cables and long processing times, the industry wasn't able to gain the foothold it desired.

With PDA's and Palm Pilots becoming more multi functional and themselves allowing the ability to read eBooks, though in a naturally less robust manner, the early e-book industry seemed destined to go the way of the dodo and fade off quietly into the sunset. From the Librius Millenium Reader to the Gemstar, Softbook and Rocket eBook Reader, device after device hit the market and quickly faded into obscurity.

Of course technology refuses to stand still, and with advances in portable screen resolutions, ‘ink' or type quality, characterized by the now standard E Ink technology, and advanced features and functionality that make the current crop of eBook readers more user friendly than ever, the industry seems poised for a comeback. eReaders like the BEBOOK are now sleeker, more stylish and lightweight than ever, weighing in at just over 200 grams.

What modern eReaders provide is functionality above and beyond what you can experience with a printed book. You have the ability to hop to any page, advanced search functions and dictionaries for finding or looking up particular words, many offer touch screen functionality, and much improved battery life saves you the hassle of being interrupted while absorbed in your current read, with the BEBOOK eReader offering 7,000 page turns per battery charge. This reduced drain on battery life is thanks to advanced power saving options like automatic shutdown, and the lack of a back lit screen, which is no longer required thanks to the advances in screen and ink technology.

Some models like the iRex iLiad even allow you to write down and take notes during or after your reading session. Many new models even offer wireless internet connectivity, meaning the moment you've clicked to the last page of the opus that was currently holding your attention, you can immediately go online and download the sequel, or perhaps research and download your next fancy.

eBooks also offer a fair reduction in prize from standard printed books, which may more than offset the cost of the device itself over the long run. Hardcovers are sold for as little as $10, as opposed to the standard $25 you would pay for a printed edition at an online retailer, and as high as $40 at a book store. As you can see, these savings can quickly build up, especially if you're a voracious reader. You also have access to free, out-of-copyright eBooks on sites such as Gutenberg.org, featuring libraries of some 20,000+ eBooks.

eReaders can hold dozens or even hundreds of books on internal memory, with the capability to hold thousands more with an external memory stick. Some e-Readers even allows you to subscribe to major national newspapers, which will arrive on your e-Reader each morning at a set time, and come complete with all the photos, comics, games and ads you would receive with the regular printed edition, minus the messy ink rubbing off on your hands.

An issue that plagues the industry is the lack of a standard e-reader book format. Buyers may be surprised to find out that that new purchase they just made can only be used to read books specifically released for its format. A Kindle book for example cannot be used with a Sony eReader, and vice versa. The implications of building up a large catalogue of eBooks, only to see them rendered useless if the consumer ever decides to switch to a different brand remain unresolved.

This combined with the fact that many books, including popular series such as Harry Potter, remain completely unavailable in the eReader format, has possibly kept potential buyers on the sidelines for the time being. This issue has no plans of persisting long term though, with Amazon claiming they plan to have every book ever published (perhaps an overly lofty goal) available in their Kindle format at some point in the future. Other formats don't enjoy the current level of selection than the Kindle does, and will likely never achieve or even aim for the level of quantity that Amazon aims to reproduce for their device, but this improves daily.

With the digital market expected to achieve market share of as high as 90% over standard printed material in the years to come, it seems that it was only a matter of time before this format made a return to the consciousness of consumers. The technology has finally caught up with the hype that surrounded the initial release of these devices, and with more eBooks available than ever before, and the promise of most new releases being immediately available in most eReader formats, one thing is for sure. eReaders are back, and this time, they're here to stay.