I am currently in Taiwan, visiting the 19th Taiwan International Book Exhibition. The guest of honour is Bhutan and at the centrepiece of its stand is a incredible 12th century text of transcedental wisdom detailed across a mere 8,000 verses. The verses are written onto woodblocks in liquid gold. As Ma Jing-Yeou, president of Taiwan, noted during the opening ceremony, the text shows how important physical objects continue to be.

That may be so but on the opening day of the fair, as many exhibitors were still putting the finishing touches to their stalls, consumers were flocking to a digital enclave in Hall A showcasing the latest technological physical objects. iPads are a common accessory among those wandering the aisles.

This may not come as much of a surprise - Asian markets have always been more open to digital reading and years ahead of Western markets. Japanese book lovers were reading stories on mobile phones when UK digital publishers were obsessed with Second Life a few years ago for example.
I was immediately struck by how many multimedia tablet devices were on display, as well as a glut of computer based education publishing. My Mandarin is non-existent so I thought my ignorance might actually prove to be an advantage as to how user friendly these devices are.

First up is the eWonderpad, an Android-enabled device from Taiwanese start-up HiAchieve. It is aimed at students although the price is rather offputting - it's roughly 350GBP. As a device it's lacking in the slick interface of an iPad with poor loading times. It also feels cheap and flimsy. When you hold it, you get this horrible feeling it could break any time. I quickly put it down and moved onto the next device.

Flimsiness is definitely not a feature of the Storybook in Colour. It's the first tablet I have seen that looks like it has been designed with clumsy toddlers in mind. The 8 inch screen in encased in thick plastic, giving it a sturdy feel. At roughly 130GBP, it's relatively cheap but it unfortunately only plays locked-in content supplied by manufacturer Aiptek. A missed opportunity as children love playing with iPads and the Storybook's design would calm parents' fears that achild could drop it and break it.

My poor linguistic skills meant that I was unable to even access the books content in the brilliantly named Tai-Pad but I had no such problem with the Samsung Galaxy Tab P1000. This device is already available in the UK, at a mere 800GBP, but it was my first time playing around with it. And in spite of the Mandarin interface, I was able to leap between books with ease by using its touchscreen, spotting a copy of Twilight with a special message written by Stephenie Meyer to her fans (I couldn't get any further with the actual text, mind you). Like the other tablets I played around with, the backlit screen means eyestrain will become a problem after a long period reading. However, iPad aside, it was the pick of the devices on display at the fair by a considerable distance.

It is clear from this fair that Asian publishers believe that digital reading will be on tablets rather than dedicated e-book devices over the coming years. I spotted only one dedicated e-book reader, the incredibly underwhelming Greenbook. At roughly 250GBP, a clunky interface and poor design left it unloved amidst the shinier tablets, And despite the Taiwanese president talking up the value of physical book, guess which area he visited first during his tour of the fair? Exactly.