"The pale lavender and lavender-and-green stones work like a rod of absorption, but absorbing a spell requires a readied action, and these stones cannot be used to empower spells. Stored spells in the vibrant purple stone must be placed by a spellcaster but can be used by anyone (see ring of minor spell storing)."
"Readying an Action: You can ready a standard action, a move action, a swift action, or a free action. To do so, specify the action you will take and the conditions under which you will take it. Then, anytime before your next action, you may take the readied action in response to that condition. The action occurs just before the action that triggers it. If the triggered action is part of another character's activities, you interrupt the other character. Assuming he is still capable of doing so, he continues his actions once you complete your readied action. Your initiative result changes. For the rest of the encounter, your initiative result is the count on which you took the readied action, and you act immediately ahead of the character whose action triggered your readied action.
You can take a 5-foot step as part of your readied action, but only if you don't otherwise move any distance during the round."
From the Magic Item section of the Core Rulebook, regarding use: "Unless stated otherwise, activating a use-activated magic item is either a standard action or not an action at all and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the use involves performing an action that provokes an attack of opportunity in itself. If the use of the item takes time before a magical effect occurs, then use activation is a standard action. If the item's activation is subsumed in its use and takes no extra time use, activation is not an action at all."
While the description does require a readied action, readied actions can be free, swift, movement or standard. While it is a magic item that does require an action, the activation of its ability is subsumed (because it reverts to gray nothingness after absorbing so many spells) which means it is exempt from the standard action activation general rule for magic items.
Therefore you can theoretically ready a move or free action to do so, but that's unreasonable in context. You can still take free, move and standard actions and ready a swift (or standard) action to suck up a spell into your Ioun Stone.
That extra bit is to differentiate it further from the rod of absorption, which requires no actions whatsoever to activate, it just needs to be in your hand.
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MikeMyler, you can ready a move or swift action, but readying is a standard action:
Ready
The ready action lets you prepare to take an action later, after your turn is over but before your next one has begun. Readying is a standard action. It does not provoke an attack of opportunity (though the action that you ready might do so).
So Kenneth is correct that you're giving up most of your turn to maybe use this thing. It seems pretty underwhelming to me, too.
While it is a magic item that does require an action, the activation of its ability is subsumed (because it reverts to gray nothingness after absorbing so many spells)
This is also incorrect. "If the item's activation is subsumed in its use" is not referring to the consumption of the item. It means "If using a magic object takes an action, activating the item is included in that action and does not take another action." The classic example is the +1 sword - you don't need to activate the sword to get a +1, you just need to attack with it (though some special weapon abilities do require separate activation). Another is drinking a potion - drinking is/includes the activation action. There's also the Lantern of Revealing which reveals all invisible creatures in its range of illumination. To use the item, you light and hold it, but are not required to use a separate action to activate the effect.
You're right on both accounts. My apologies.
With the stone requiring a 'readied' action before it will absorb spells, I find it's absorption capability particularly lacking.
If you put it in a Wayfinder it might activate the resonant power: "If the bearer is holding the wayfinder, he may use the stone's absorption ability as an immediate action instead of a readied action."