End of the experiment
After a month of carrying the Sony Reader in via bus, train and tube, I have reverted to iPhone only. While the Sony reading experience is better on the whole (the page is larger etc) the rest of the experience is less so. It is another device to carry, and it requires stowing in something when not in use, I can't just drop it into a pocket. The library management is reasonable, and I can navigate fairly easily around my collection of 800 books, but the eInk display is suboptimal for viewing cover art, and the process is just fractionally too slow to be comfortable. In contrast Stanza on the iPhone is pretty snappy (although I have considerably less than 800 books loaded) and cover art looks splendid. This is, of course, a minor consideration and separate to actually reading a book, but an area where the iPhones screen is clearly superior. Also, since getting the Sony I have used the excellent tools from Mobileread folk to make my library available to Stanza via OPDS and DropBox so that I can browse the entire collection from anywhere without having to have them all on the iPhone.
Note that these comments apply to using the device while commuting in London, which is a pretty hostile environment. For an extended read at home, or on a long flight (not that I do them much anymore) the Sony is a good thing to have.
So in summary, for me (just me) the Sony is a nice device, but the advantages are not compelling enough to carry it on my daily commute, compared to the ubiquity and extreme portability of the iPhone.
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