Electronic books have been predicted to change the way we read forever, and hasten the death of the printing press. But the revolution is taking a long time in coming.

Until recently in the United Kingdom, people wanting to buy an electronic book-reading device had little choice of machines. This week, the bookseller Borders launches its own e-book reader, which promises to ignite competition at last.

Until now, the Sony Reader, launched in partnership with Waterstones last year, was the only major player in the British market. Its main rival, the much-hyped Amazon Kindle, is only available in the US, and the online retailer appears to be in no hurry to launch in the UK.

The new reader gives British bookworms a choice. The device is made by electronics company Elonex for Borders UK, which claims its machine is both lighter and cheaper than Sony’s Reader.

A Borders spokesman said: “We felt it was important to try to develop our own e-reader device. We wanted to offer something more affordable and give consumers another choice.”

At £189, the Borders e-book costs around £10 less than the Sony Reader. Borders said the new device is currently being sold exclusively in its stores, but will be available through its website from next week. A selection of 45,000 e-books will be available to buy on the Borders website.

The device, just like the Sony Reader, comes preloaded with 100 classic books, from Shakespeare to Austen, Joyce to Dickens.

Borders has a lot of catching up to do. Waterstones has already sold more than 30,000 Sony Readers since last September's launch, and customers have downloaded more than 75,000 books from its website.

In recognition of this stiff, established competition, Borders admitted it was only cautiously entering the fray, shipping just 1,000 devices to its stores this week as a way of assessing demand.

But unlike Waterstones, which sells the Sony Reader rather than a branded product, Borders said it had invested thousands of pounds in developing the machine, in collaboration with Elonex.

E-book readers are thought likely to appeal to bibliophiles, because electronic ink is now so advanced that it can replicate the look of a printed page. Unlike computer screens, the screens are not backlit reducing strain on the eyes. The high-contrast screens can also be read in direct sunlight.

In comparison with other mobile devices, such as phones and music players, e-book readers use little power, because the rechargeable battery is only drained when a page is turned. A typical device can therefore flick through almost 2,000 pages between charges, enough to satisfy even the most voracious bookworm. One e-book reader can also store thousands of books, allowing users to carry a virtual library around with them.

Technology experts hailed the new Borders device for increasing consumer choice, but pointed to the superiority of the Amazon Kindle, even though it is not available in the UK.

Paolo Pescatore from CCS Insight, the technology analyst, said the Kindle’s “over-the-air connectivity” - meaning it can connect to the internet and download books without being plugged into a computer - gave it the edge over similar machines.

However, he believed that the trend was for more people to dispense with paperbacks in favour of electronic editions.

“Your average punter on the high street is becoming a lot more digital,” he said. “Music, games, now books are being released in a digital form, and people will just become used to this.”

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming