So in my constant quest to find ways of off-loading everything I do onto one pocket-sized device, my iPhone, I’ve now got myself on an eBook kick. I now carry my iPhone with me practically 90 to 95 percent of the time, compared to probably only 20% of time tops with my old phone. And now since my iPod and cell phone are one and the same, I never miss a call now when I’m listening to music on my iPhone.

I’m hoping the same theory holds true for these eBooks. By having them there at the ready, just a few finger taps away, I should theoretically be able to get back into reading. The problem is I don’t have an hour and a half commute into work anymore like I did a few years ago, so I don’t bother bringing a book with me these days. And like hell I’m going to give anyone at work the chance to see me take a book into the bathroom!

So I started to check out a few eBook reader apps for the iPhone. I’ve heard plenty of good things about eReader, but it seems to only be tied to the one eBook format.

Oh right, that’s the other thing. It would seem everyone likes their own format over everyone else’s. As Andy Tanenbaum said, “The nice thing about standards is that you have so many to choose from.”

I’ve also tried Stanza, which seems to have a lot more flexibility in terms of the formats it can import and export, and it really satisfies the geek quotient, because it really makes you want to start delving into specification documents and writing scripts to do all kinds of XML, HTML, and RTF manipulation to create the perfect eBook. Bookshelf is another one, and it sounds similar to Stanza in functionality, but I’m turned off a bit by the comparatively steep price (compared to free) of the app until I’m sure reading eBooks is something I even feel comfortable doing on a regular basis (or if it’ll become just another way for me not to read the books I want to read).

In the end, I decided on eReader for the time being. As much as I want to have the flexibility that Stanza offers, it’s kinda weak so far in terms of what it does do. Ideally, the best app for doing this eBook syncing would be one with that all too familiar iLife interface (i.e. iTunes, Mail, Yojimbo, Comic Book Lover, etc…). In other words, something that’ll let you edit the meta data like title, author, chapters, cover art, etc… The document-based interface Stanza has now doesn’t really suit a syncing app.

I tried converting/making my own from stuff I’ve found online, but after an hour of getting mediocre results, I realized my time was better spent doing other things. For now, I’ve signed up to Fictionwise.com as it carries a lot of the books I’m interested in reading.

Just finished at 8th Street Comics (well, I did). Apparently we’re
supposed to try something from Nutana Bakery before we leave.

No luck yesterday. Trying again today. It’s anything but romantic, as this photo seems to make it appear.