When you scan the technical specification sheets of all mobile phones introduced in over the last two years you will notice great improvements in talk time. (Forget standby time.) My own investigations show that typical talk time varies between 4 and 6 hours and MP3 playback is usually around 8-12 hours.

This is plenty enough to afford to spend some time reading an ebook and not worry about discharging the phone’s battery and loosing contact with clients, family, friends, and the boss. The fear of draining the battery is lessened even further by widespread availability of car phone chargers and the number of public places that offer free phone charging for their customers, such as restaurants, bars, railway stations, etc.

As battery life increases, people find other uses for their phones. Reading your ebooks could be one of them.