This poll is partially out of curiosity, partially to gauge the need for tutorials and detailed explanations of things.

So, on a scale of one to five, rate your own technical aptitude. One being the lowest, five being the highest.

For example:

A One would be: "I don't own a computer, and I'm afraid that if I look at it they would explode."

A Three would be: "I'm comfortable using computers and electronics, but I don't really know or am comfortable with the advanced stuff."

A Five would be: "I'm pretty good with computers, config files and registry entries don't scare me. I can usually figure stuff out on my own after playing with it"

Keep in mind this is compared to the general public. If you work in a computer or technology related field, you're probably a five on this scale.

I have to say four, because although I work in IT (telecommunications area), I'm way better at some stuff than others, partly due to lack of interest (ok, the great majority). My husband just loves fiddling with OS's, for example, and I just know how to get around it, make some changes to the regedit, etc. (your talk in the developers area goes right over me most of the time). But I love databases and programming, and am coming to grips with communications (I've been recently "adopted", lol), and am considered an absolute whiz at "ofimática" (Spanish for MS Office et al)... Queen of the spreadsheet!! :D

This thread is starting to confirm what I orginally thought. The iLiad is typically owned by more technically minded people.

I wonder if that's because of it's advanced functionality, or perhaps it's not as user friendly...

See, according to how you defined the values on your scale, I guess I'd be a five - but without your definitions, I would have voted three, assuming that a five stands for someone who hacks into NORAD...

As for the user-friendliness of the community developed apps, there's definitely some room for improvement. If nothing else, some of the wording in the various installation instructions could be streamlined; different people use words differently etc...
(This is something I have experience with and would happily volunteer for if only I had more time ... well, maybe when the kids are off to college ... :()

Plus, I'm not sure if links in developer's messages should lead directly to the download - how about they lead to the Wiki entry and the download starts from there? There are apps out there where there's one download link for the original port, one for the upgrade, one for a required library, one for the Aztec language pack ... well, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. This can be very confusing to clueless people like me. Should be all in one place.

The poll is probably slightly biased... many people probably just happily use their iliad, and never visit mobileread.

The poll is probably slightly biased... many people probably just happily use their iliad, and never visit mobileread.
But if they had visited MobilRead, they be very happy instead of just happy.

"100% of Russian citizens have access to Internet, as was discovered by an online poll."

I voted 3. While I am pretty confident with technology and can manage a wide range of things, I am at a loss when it comes to the apps that are being developed for the Iliad. I am not confident with trying to install them. Now if it came to imaging technology and using CS or light room I would have said 5 :)

I've declared myself to be a "5", which is true in my own field (Windows programming) but I'm more like a "1" when it comes to Linux. When I installed FBReader it took me ages to figure out where I had to "navigate" to in the file system to locate my books, for example.

I gave myself a generous 3. Computers mac windows and windows on mac no problem. Linux for me is like those old maps that indicate unknown areas with the caution "here there be dragons".

I don't believe that you need to be that technologically proficient to use a iLiad but having said that I had to get my brother in law out to get me on my home wireless network with the thing.

I would love to be able to listen to mp3s on my iLiad but lack the ability to even start. All sorts of stuff unavailable to me I guess. My own field moves so rapidly that I lack the time and motivation to get involved with linux on an iLiad. Perhaps over Xmas I will give it a shot.

Thank goodness for all you clever chaps on this forum:pray:

I gave myself a 2. I know the computer won't explode if I look at it. Just if I turn it on.

I started a thread yesterday in the Irex forum asking for tutorials. I love my Iliad. But I have a clear sense that I'm not getting as much out of it as I should. Some functions I haven't started to use at all. I haven't downloaded any of the community apps. All the explainations of how to do it assume a level of knowledge I just don't have.

I think I'm the kind of user Irex wants/needs if its to stand a chance of surviviing.

That's not to say i don't appreciate and admire the work of all the developers like Adam and jharker. But Irex has to orientate a little more to the needs of the ordinary punters.

Installing applications is VERY easy, mel. If it's one of Adam's installers, like "FBReader", for example, then all you have you do is:

1. Download the zip file of the installation package.
2. Unzip it on your PC or Mac.
3. Copy the installer folder to the root of a CF or SD card.
4. Put the card in your iLiad.
5. Navigate to it with the "Contents Lister".
6. Tap the "Install <whatever>" item that shows up in the Contents Lister.

That's all there is to it. Once you've installed it, the contents lister will show two items in place of the installer: "Run <whatever>" and "Uninstall <whatever>".

You need to request and download the shell access package from iRex first, I should add.

Hope that's of some help.

Installing applications is VERY easy, mel. If it's one of Adam's installers, like "FBReader", for example, then all you have you do is:

1. Download the zip file of the installation package.
2. Unzip it on your PC or Mac.
3. Copy the installer folder to the root of a CF or SD card.
4. Put the card in your iLiad.
5. Navigate to it with the "Contents Lister".
6. Tap the "Install <whatever>" item that shows up in the Contents Lister.

That's all there is to it. Once you've installed it, the contents lister will show two items in place of the installer: "Run <whatever>" and "Uninstall <whatever>".

You need to request and download the shell access package from iRex first, I should add.

Hope that's of some help.

Certainly helped me Harry, and I gave myself a four! :)

However, if the poll had been broken down by OS, I'd have given myself:

WXP: 4
Mac OS X: 4
W Vista: 0 and hope it stays that way
Linux: 0, but maybe one day I'll see a reason to try it out.

Mark

I have voted for "5". :D

There are apps out there where there's one download link for the original port, one for the upgrade, one for a required library, one for the Aztec language pack ... well, I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. This can be very confusing to clueless people like me. Should be all in one place.
Well, this is true. One example: my beta of musicplayer Gimmix hasn't got a long readme like it should have. It was too lazy to update the old/much better LaTeX readme of jukebox 2.x. So, you can blame me too.
Documentation is complicated becaue you have to care all small facts which are clear to myself but unknown to Average Joe.

Harry, thanks for your very clear directions.

Installing applications is VERY easy, mel. If it's one of Adam's installers, like "FBReader", for example, then all you have you do is:

1. Download the zip file of the installation package.
2. Unzip it on your PC or Mac.
3. Copy the installer folder to the root of a CF or SD card.
4. Put the card in your iLiad.
5. Navigate to it with the "Contents Lister".
6. Tap the "Install <whatever>" item that shows up in the Contents Lister.

That's all there is to it. Once you've installed it, the contents lister will show two items in place of the installer: "Run <whatever>" and "Uninstall <whatever>".

You need to request and download the shell access package from iRex first, I should add.

Hope that's of some help.

The last bit is exactly my problem. To download new apps, I need to get shell access. If I download and use shell access I void my warranty. I don't feel in anyway confident enough to take the risk. That'll be the situation with most - if not all - non tech ebook owners.

In time of course all the great new apps you people work on will filter down. I can wait. Though there are some I'd like right now!

But the problem is slightly bigger than that. The Iliad is intimidating. The instructions and user manuals not clear, explicit and reader friendly enough. Irex must encourage and welcome in new buyers for very obvious reasons. Its a great multi pupose and adaptable tool. Lte's see that fact make good and clear.

This is probably all a bit tedious for many of you but if ebooks are to take off - if the Iliad is to stay as a market leader - something must be done. Not to overuse the old ipod analogy but its mass appeal was absolutely grounded in its ease of use, the clarity of the instructions.

Thinking about ease of use - I have not tried the Companion software, but if it helps novice users get the basic functions working on the iLiad, then why don't iRex put the installer on the internal filesystem with an autorun file that starts the installer when you first connect the iLiad to your PC by USB?

That would probably go a long way to making it easier for most users to get useful stuff done, and it wouldn't add any CDs to the packaging.

Thinking about ease of use - I have not tried the Companion software, but if it helps novice users get the basic functions working on the iLiad, then why don't iRex put the installer on the internal filesystem with an autorun file that starts the installer when you first connect the iLiad to your PC by USB?

That would probably go a long way to making it easier for most users to get useful stuff done, and it wouldn't add any CDs to the packaging.

Do you mean the installer for the companion software? If you do, then I don't think that'd help, because the companion software is part of the problem!

I find the Iliad easy enough to use, but even so IDS and the companion software are poorly explained and seem to make you go through hoops just to do basic stuff. Even the name IDS doesn't help! I guess they'll eventually offer other content via it, but for now at least why isn't it just called the "update service"?

If Irex want the Iliad to be widely adopted, they have to make it behave the way people think it will. For that they should add:

- An easy to use file manager to allow files to be moved arround on the device.

- Transparent merging of scribbles with the original doc on the device; we should be able to simply connect to a computer (without the silly companion software), and copy a fully merged doc over to our PC/Mac/Linux box.

- Easy networking, so I can connect to any computer on my network and cpy files over.

- Some much more useable notes options, such as cancelling a note without saving, easy naming, and easy template creation/filing.

- Proper third party software support, so I can BUY an app and install it simply using a one click installer, and without affecting my warranty.

Actually, there is no reason to void the warranty. Since you have the re flash tool to 2.10 also!
So, the void warranty is ONLY for the time that it was bricked thanks to your own tinkering. You had then to send the Iliad to Irex to unbrick it..at your own costs. Even in warranty time.

Actually, there is no reason to void the warranty. Since you have the re flash tool to 2.10 also!
So, the void warranty is ONLY for the time that it was bricked thanks to your own tinkering. You had then to send the Iliad to Irex to unbrick it..at your own costs. Even in warranty time.

No I know it doesn't void the warranty, but it does affect it, in that I can't get support from Irex to help sort out any problems.

If I choose to develop for the Iliad, and hence mess it up while experimenting, that's understandable, but I look forward to the day when there is a selection of apps I can buy and install without worrying about who'll help me out if it goes wrong.

That's all part of being friendly to "ordinary users" IMHO.

Mark

I voted for a three.

Back in the DOS days (and Win3.11) I would have been a 4 or 5, but times change (and programs change) and it just takes too much time to become really proficient. It seems by the time I get good at something...the rules change and a new package comes out. The last time I actually wrote a full fledged program was back in 1994-95 during graduate school when teaching Freshman Engineering students Pascal! I just never needed to learn C++ and Object Oriented Programming. Java is what I drink in the morning; Python, a snake in the zoo.

That is why I have not gotten shell access. The time it would take to get proficient and everything running would be wiped away when the next version of the iLiad software comes out. I am happy to follow the development of the community and will be happy to use the fruit of your efforts - when it can be installed without shell access.

I do build myself a new computer about every 2 years and update it often. It seems that hardware changes but the changes are different from the software changes. I can keep up without expending tremendous effort. I probably rate a 4 in regards to computer hardware (5 in the months when updating my system). Consequently, it seems that Adam's thesis that we are a technical bunch is fundamentally correct for me also - but not in reference to the current software packages.

So although it is a 3, if I really wanted to I could be a 4 or 5.

I picked 5, but only according to Adam's definitions. I'm not a developer, but I'm pretty comfortable with most available OSs and I had the shell access before the CF flash option was available (though I'm much more adventurous in trying new apps now that I can re-flash!)

I really think the ability to install apps needs to be improved, though. We need a community IDS equivalent that can be used on the iLiad itself to install new packages. Something like Synaptic on Ubuntu.

When interpreting the results of the poll, bear in mind that there's a built in bias. By having the poll in this forum, you're self-selecting for people who have an iLiad, use a computer, are on the internet fairly often, and are SO interested in the iLiad that they found their way to this forum and registered.That pretty much rules out most people who would vote for 1 and 2. :)

I voted for 5.

Very good points, jharker. We often forget about self-selection when we create internet polls, but it's a real and pervasive problem. (Well, it's a problem if you forget and assume you have a good sample of both internet and non-internet users....)

Although I am not an iRex owner, I am a prospective one, I have my hopes pinning for v2.0 and if by the time I save up the money for one they come out with a larger screen I'd easily choose the larger screen version.

I'd rate myself a five, although my programming skills thus far have been limited to writing only scripts that get the job done, I think the way you defined it doesn't take into account programming.

Regardless I am comfortable with using a computer, I pieced my own together so I pretty much know when a piece of hardware on it will fail and why. I took apart my Ebookwise 1150 the first week I got it just so I could see the insides. and if I get a iRex I'd be tempted to do the same with it.

I gave myself a 5, but I'd like to answer another poll upon who has time to do all the extra work on iLiad to use additional functionality.
I'm suffering buyers remorse on my iLiad. It seems like every feature beyond plain ol vanilla book reading requires me accessing the shell. Not the type of usability I'd expected what is meant to be a portable device