I spent yesterday’s tube journey home, and my usual half an hour reading time before bed, getting to grips with Sony’s new eBook reader – the snappily-named PRS-505.

I’ve not used an eBook reader before – I’ve never felt the need – but I was pleasantly surprised by the readability of the screen. It uses an incredibly clear monochrome E Ink display that’s about as close to ink-on-paper as I imagine it’s possible to get.

E Ink is a passive, reflective technology so once there’s text on the screen, there’s no refresh or backlight to annoy the eyes. It consumes so little power, in fact, that battery life is measured in page turns (6,500 in this instance) rather than minutes, hours or days.

It’s robust too – rather than the liquid crystal screens that adorn our laptops and mobile phones, E Ink displays are constructed of ink capsules printed onto a plastic sheet that is then laminated to a layer of circuitry, so it should withstand the sort of abuse you’d normally subject a book to.

Now, eBook readers are nothing new – the Amazon Kindle reader has already sold by the squillion in the States, and there are various devices available on these shores, such as the Bookeen Cybook and the Rex iLiad too.

But this Sony product could genuinely kickstart the eBook market in the UK, which until now has occupied a small niche. Why? Well first because it’s a beautifully designed thing – it’s slim and light and luxurious in its silver finish and leatherette sleeve. And second because it’s being sold by a traditional book shop, Waterstones, alongside those old-fashioned papery things, stuck together with glue.

I still prefer the simplicity of a paperback. Books can be borrowed and lent, abused, read in the bath and on the beach without fear of breakdown. There’s something about opening a book for the first time that makes the heart leap with excitement – the smell, the feel of the paper under the fingers, the expectation of many an hour lost to entertainment and intrigue. I don’t think I’m going to give up on paper, ink and card just yet.

But the Waterstones deal means more people than ever are going to be exposed to the potential benefits of reading electronically. They’ll find out that reading text on screen is easier than they expected. They’ll work out that being able to fit the whole of War and Peace into a device just as easy to read, but smaller and easier to carry around than a Robert Harris thriller, is a big bonus. Anyone who’s ever struggled to get hold large print literature will also find it an absolute godsend – with just a simple press of a button needed to zoom right in.

At £200 inc VAT, it won’t be for everyone, but I expect that Waterstones will sell a good number of these in the run up to Christmas this year.