The BBC' Click Online has an interesting story from Japan about the rise in the use of mobile phones to read books and comics whilst on the move.

Catering to the drudge of the daily commute, an entirely new phenomenon is catching on.

You can either while away an hour-long train journey getting lost in a paperback, or alternatively you could bury your head in some absorbing prose on a screen two inches (4cm) wide.

As an avid reader of fiction on my PDA I'm not surprised this type of interaction is taking on in such a big way - after all, I always have my phone with me, but I don't always have a book.

But surely the experience of reading a book on a mobile cannot exactly be easy on the eye?

Bandai Networks' Mahota Asunuma says: "The screen of the liquid crystal display is getting larger so people get less tired than they used to reading books on a phone.

"This improvement is definitely helping the market. Mobile users are becoming used to doing more and more things with their phones, so it's an easy transition to make."

Mobile e-books seem to encourage people to read paperbacks
The books are proving such a hit that Bandai is hiring authors to train others would-be writers in the art of mobile literature. One established novelist told me the new medium is creating a new form of expression.

And perhaps more importantly, it is reversing the younger generation's apathy towards reading.