Many of us have been reading electronic books for years. I discovered them back when I got a brand new Palm M500, and haven't had a paper cut since. But lately, e-books have been the talk of technology town, and EA believes the displayed word could drive new hardware sales.

Its new range of Flips children's e-books is due to launch for the Nintendo DS at the beginning of December, and EA has spoken to MCV of its potential to sell additional hardware to a new range of customers.

It came to light earlier in the week that more e-book applications were released on iPhone than games during September, while new electronic reading devices are regularly being announced - some even being powered by Google's Android system.

Marvel Comics is also going digital, after a partnership with iPhone comic reader Panelfly, while newspapers and media outlets are believed to be in discussion with Apple to offer digital publications for its forthcoming tablet.

Ultimately EA could very well be right about the potential for e-books to boost hardware sales of all handheld platforms, as reading electronically finally appears to be going mainstream.