On Wednesday, the Internet company revealed another prong of its strategy in making its gigantic e-book library available on a device already in millions of hands: the iPhone.

This is a big step for e-books, which have lingered outside the mainstream for nearly two decades even as digital media have conquered music and film distribution. Amazons move combines a readily available device thats suitable for reading with a good distribution system and reasonably priced books.

That said, the first version of the iPhone application is crude, and Amazon would do well to release a software update soon to demonstrate its commitment to the iPhone.

But before we get into that, lets take a look at how the Kindle app works. Its free, available in Apple Inc.s App Store for U.S. residents. Amazon says its working on taking it international, though I wouldnt hold my breath because that would involve securing international publishing rights. Apart from the iPhone, it will also work on the iPod Touch.

Once youve loaded the app, you can buy books on Amazons Web store. Youll have to use either a computer or the iPhones browser. Unlike some other e-book readers, including the Kindle, the app doesnt have a built-in store. Considering that most people are familiar with the Web site, this isnt a major shortcoming.

New books cost a few dollars less than the print versions, and some public-domain books are available for 99 cents.

Head back to the application, and it will load up the books you bought wirelessly. The Apple devices have gigabytes of storage memory, and unless youve filled it with music and movies, they can hold hundreds, even thousands of books.

Tap one, and its text fills the screen. Turn the page by swiping over it with your finger. If you do something else with your phone, then return to the reader app, it will show you the last page you were reading, so theres no need to fiddle with bookmarks or bend page corners.

Thats great for reading short snatches here and there. Whip your iPhone out in the elevator, and your co-travellers wont know that youre ignoring them in the best way by catching up on Danielle Steel. You wont look like a snob in the supermarket checkout line, even if youre reading Stendhals “The Charterhouse of Parma.”

Since the screen is backlit, you dont need a light source.

If youve already bought a book for the Kindle device, it will load on your iPhone for free, and vice versa. If youre reading a book both on the Kindle and the iPhone, the two devices will communicate to keep track of how far youve read.

This sounds elegant, but the app has a mildly annoying habit of freezing when its trying to communicate with Amazon when your wireless connection is weak.

E-book readers havent taken off in part because people dont like reading on a computer screen. The Kindle reading device, which costs $359, tackles that by using a novel screen technology known as electronic ink. Its not backlit, so it looks a lot more like paper, but it has numerous drawbacks, most notably that it cant show a bright white or a really dark black. Since it doesnt show any colors either, it looks like gray, unbleached paper printed with weak ink.

The iPhone and iPod Touch screens are nothing like that, of course. They have great contrast and color. But the Kindle app will show all books on a white background that many will find too bright, making it uncomfortable to read. You can turn down the screen brightness, but that will leave it too dark for other applications.

Other e-book readers available on the iPhone, like eReader and Stanza, let you pick a background and text color that wont hurt your eyes. These other reading applications also let you pick the font and set the margins on the screen. The only adjustment the Amazon app offers is the font size.

I also noticed that the app cut off the ends of some indented paragraphs in Max Brooks “The Zombie Survival Guide,” making them impossible to read. The Kindle 2, which went on sale last week, doesnt do this. Hopefully Amazon will fix the app before theres a major zombie uprising.

But the Kindle on the iPhone is still the best e-book reader Ive seen so far.

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