I've never really understood the whole eBook thing. I've tried - really, I have. I've read long books like Michael Crichton's "Timeline" Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and a few other public domain novels on a number of different devices and none have been comfortable to read. When it comes to reading non-fiction, I've not yet found something that makes feels like reading a book.

I've also given audio books a go and quite like the idea of the convenience they offer. I've listened to a couple of full novels and often use an audio bible when leading bible studies. In that context, I find that reading along with the audio increases my comprehension and retention.

My problem is that books, particularly reference works like encyclopaedia and dictionaries take up a lot of space and tend to cost a lot of money. At the moment, I'm studying for an exam on the early New Testament church. It's focussed on the Book of Acts and some of the epistles of the Christian bible.

Studying requires that I read a wide variety of different references in addition to my lecture notes. This has lead me, for the first time, to establishing an electronic reference library so that I can carry my reference books with me.

I've purchased three sets of electronic reference books. The actual books and supporting software are very interesting and, in my view, essential for the library of any theological student. However, they're not the point of this story. The point is that I've finally found a worthwhile use for what till now has looked like a great solution for a problem I didn't have.

Many of you will have already cottoned on to the utility of eBooks but the real epiphany for me hasn't been the content, it's been the availability of a reader. I use my notebook computer (a MacBook AIr) to read these books. It works for me as, when I'm studying, I do all my note taking on the computer. The problem is that we need different readers in different contexts and the whole DRM and file format business rears its ugly head.

Let's say you have a paperback version of the latest Stephen King novel. I Australia that's likely to cost about $20. If I want the audio version I might need another $40 and the eBook version might cost another $20. Why can't I upgrade my user license so that I can buy the hard copy and an SD card or a download voucher for the eBook version or the audio version at a discounted price? In other words, change the pricing model so that it's comprised of two parts - the content and the delivery media.

It seems that consumers are again the victims of antiquated, 19th century thinking. The publishing industry needs to wake up to the fact that an increasing proportion of its customer base will demand access to books in more than just the printed form.