Update: Use also the Wiki to add your wishes: http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony_Reader_Wishlist

I've been using my reader for 9 days now and think some things can be improved in the next software update. Sony seems to look in these forums, so maybe we can all provide a list to help.

1. Screen Orientation. For some reason, sony decided to put both page turn controls on the same side of the device. The reader screen should be able to rotate to any orientation to allow holding it and turning pages with the right hand.

2. Naming documents, authors, genre. The connect software should allow you to rename documents within the interface. Having to reopen the document in word to change the title is inconvenient. It would be nice (and probably be good for business) if the Connect software was actually usable to organize my book library.

3. Drag to Library. For some reason you can't drag a document into the main document list to add to the library. You have to drag it to the little "library" icon.

4. Automatic Page Turn. Enable an automatic page turn option that every other reader software has. Place a small status gauge as a visual of when the page will turn. Adjust speed with the joystick or page turn buttons.

5. RSS Feeds. I've only downloaded feeds a couple times and it doesn't seem to work very well.
Half of the stories from Wired were in unreadable, tiny 2pt text.
It isn't clear how to immediately update the RSS feeds.
All the feeds are underlined as links, but clicking on them doesn't give the user any feedback. The Bullet icon next to the feed name is clickable, but doesn't show any hand or feedback when clicked. If you click several times because you aren't sure if it is working it adds muliple instances of that feed to download in the Status area.
Give items being downloaded a user-readable name. Are we supposed to know that "Downloading 30193_10102006_0713" means "Downloading Engadget RSS?"

6. Lockups in Connect Software. The connect software is constantly locking up. I assumed at first that it was trying to convert a file, but 2 hours later it was still locked up. Seems most stable when started without the reader plugged in first, but usually locks up when the reader is plugged in. I've seen the same problems on two different computers...

7. Add support for unencrypted .prc or .pdb books. Most of my books are still in this format from my PalmOS days. I can still read them on my PPC. These should be usable on the reader as well.

8. Status indicator. This was a poor choice in iTunes and is a poor choice here. Every other icon on the left indicates a location where books are stored, why should the status of current operations be hidden there? There seems to be plenty of room on the top or bottom of the screen to give a message that says "transfering book 1 of 3".

9. Connect store.
Move the "cart" navigation element out of the middle of the menu. Convention is that "cart" is not usually part of the main site navigation or at least isn't hidden in the middle. It took me a while to find it.
The author name in the "top 10" lists should be clickable.
When browsing a sub-category (sci-fi, mystery, etc) the results shouldn't be in a small frame. I missed the "page 1 of 15" the first few times I browsed because you have it only below the book list (not everyone will be browsing full screen)-- add it to the top also. Allow a "view all" option. There's plenty of white space available-- a short description would be helpful. Move the "add to cart" button closer to the book information or give each title some visual separation so it is easier to line up the button with the book title.

10. Buying in a browser. I know Sony thinks their Connect software is cool, but for the past couple weeks I've been traveling and have occasionally borrowed public or client terminals. It would have been nice to buy a book without having to load software onto a computer.

11. Delete from the device menu. Allow users to manage items on their device without having to hook up to a computer. If I finish a book and want to clear out the title, why can't I do that from the reader?

1. I wish the joystick could turn the page as I hold the book with my left hand and am used to turning the pages with my right hand.

2. Some type of subfolder navigation ability.

3. Fit to screen for reading on the laptop.

4. Automatic synchronization option.

5. Some sort of button or key lock so that the pages aren't turning whilst the buttons are inadvertently being pushed.

6. Ability to read htmls natively or at least to allow a conversion of said files.

Add a "Go To Page" option, both in the Connect Software (How did they miss this? I didn't even realize they had until the last day or so!), and within a book on the Reader. Adding it to the "Book" menu would be perfectly servicable, I think, and the existing number keys would obviously serve just fine. :grin:

How about text search? I think their remarks on this were that they'd considered it, but decided against it based on focus group feedback. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that's almost mandatory?

I've been using my reader for 9 days now and think some things can be improved in the next software update. Sony seems to look in these forums, so maybe we can all provide a list to help.

1. Screen Orientation. For some reason, sony decided to put both page turn controls on the same side of the device. The reader screen should be able to rotate to any orientation to allow holding it and turning pages with the right hand.

I would really like this to happen! Seems like a very simple change but would be quite useful to right handed people.

The other thing I'd like to see is an option to go to landscape and have the pagination redone rather than splitting a page and showing dimmed out text at the top or bottem.

I am getting used to portrait reading with the button on the left but I think I'd do landscape if it didn't have the anoying dimmed out text.

0a) Add Unicode support for books
0b) Add Unicode support for Reader's UI

...

100) Add clock to status bar, sync it with PC, make it optional.

RTFD inline graphics support. This is my only major issue at the minute. It'd be nice if I could have the covers/maps at the start of my books.

I second, third and fourth the clock comment! I really wish there was a clock on the reader, down next to the battery or something.

Unless I'm dumb and missing something, there's no option to "unmount" the reader in the software. And the Reader doesn't give any indication of when it's ok to disconnect (i.e. not transferring anything).

Not that I've had any problems, but I can see many of my family being quite confused by having the Reader flashing a big "Do Not Unplug" symbol when it's really ok to unplug.

Once () Status Icon stops spinning, you are good :)

Yeah, figured that out. But as much as I like my family -- they're not going to notice the small spinny status icon in the software unless someone specifically tells them to look for it. They're going to be staring at the blinking "Do Not Unplug" symbol.

I would think Sony would have had the screen on the Reader change to indicate "connected, ok to unplug" and "transferring, do not unplug" -- just to make it painfully obvious to those who aren't computer inclined.

A lot of the complaints I have would be pretty easily solved by just copying iTunes. ;)

Sony Reader couldn't display the whole PDF document(Chinese) created by Adobe Acrobat (or PDFCreator, PrimoPDF, ScanSoft PDF Create! etc.), but it does work fine when I just print some pages of the same document using the same PDF tools at the same PDF settings. A really strange bug here. Adviced by Slava, I used pdfFactory to print the same doc to PDF, everhthing is fine! Sony Reader is incompatible with Acrobat in non-english PDF output?!!

Also found something that maybe interesting:

If a PDF document could not be displayed in CONNECT Reader in PC, it's also unreadable in SONY Reader. Thus I guess SONY has the same PDF viewer (maybe same core) in PC and Reader. I check the directory where CONNECT Reader installed in my PC and found this dll file: FskDocumentViewerAdobe.dll, version is "1.0.0.20", name is "Embedded PDF Viewer for Sony Connect Reader", and comes from "Adobe Systems Incorporated"

That is why I got confused. It looks like Adobe is the provider for SONY Reader's PDF viewer, but Sony Reader is incompatible with Adobe's Acrobat in non-english PDF output?!!

I second, third and fourth the clock comment! I really wish there was a clock on the reader, down next to the battery or something.

When the Reader is on but not turning the page, all it does is monitor for button presses. When you shut off the Reader isn't it completely off? That's why battery life is so good. I'd rather have a long battery life than another clock.

I'd like to see the Connect software support a 'sync' directory. Any files I drop in that directory should be synced to the reader (replacing the existing file if the name is the same). Conversely, if a file is synced from that directory and then removed from the directory, then it should be removed from the reader. This should happen automatically when the reader is connected.

The motivation is that by doing this, we can almost create our own sync capability in parallel with the Connect library. In particular I'm thinking of the PDF files I'm creating from RSS feeds with the rss2book tool I posted.

The alternative is a sync SDK, which would be better for me, but the directory approach has the advantage that it doesn't require any kind of sophisticated programming skills.

Groups on external card
Any hierarchal organization system. Any. Any semblance of one at all. Even have the "By Author" listing only show author names, and let you move down for the actual titles. I'd be happy with that. Very happy.

Having more than 6 pages of books is very difficult with a flat file system.

Just once is it possible for the sony software division not to ruin their hardware? (Granted, sometimes the hardware division does that all by itself, but really, don't help them) Or is that really too much to ask....

I'm in total agreement Kaitou,

I'd rather have a long battery life than another clock.

Seeing as a PC keeps it's time for years with a simple little watch battery, I can't believe that time-tracking even when off drains that much on the battery. Ohh 7450 page turns instead! ;)

Ok, let me quote myself :)
>100) Add clock to status bar, sync it with PC, make it optional.

The keyword is "optional", even though updating just small area once a minute should not affect battery life.

Umm, another "keyword" is low priority (hint, see number 100).

--
They can even update clock only when whole page updated during page-turn to "save" energy, but it will get some people very confused :)

I agree with all of the above, some more vehemently than others.

Also would like to see copywrite date on book list in the Connect Store.

The connect store! oh my. It needs to be completely revamped. First, on my laptop, I cannot see the entire store screen on the webpage. I have to scroll down and it isn't that intuitive that I need to do that.

Second, the new releases listed aren't new releases. On the Romance New Release page, not one is a new release. Some were released 2 or 3 years ago. Fictionwise has a search feature to search by original publication date and date added to Fictionwise because those can be very different. I suspect Sony's "new releases" are merely the date upon which they were added to the Connect store.

Third, the categorizations are so wrong. There are books in the romance section which are so clearly not romances, not even tangentially.

I am not sure why Sony wouldn't take a look at ereader and fictionwise and see what they had to offer and offer at least that much in the Connect Software in terms of search, display, bookshelf options.

When the Reader is on but not turning the page, all it does is monitor for button presses. When you shut off the Reader isn't it completely off? That's why battery life is so good. I'd rather have a long battery life than another clock.


Yeah, I really don't see the need for a clock, either. I've got clocks on almost everything I own - it's a poor fit for the Reader.

Actually, the clock idea is very good as it could lead to some useful statistics. I'd love to know how long I actually spent reading a particular book. Reading it here and there for a few minutes or an hour over several days or weeks doesn't really give you a good idea of how much time you invested in book. So, a timer keeping track of when I was in that particular book would be interesting.

It could also lead to other statistics such as: average time per chapter, average time per page, average words per minute, etc.

Not earthshattering information by any means, but it would be very interesting to see and easy to implement.

Wellcome to MobileRead, Bandito! Hope you enjoy it here. :beam:

I agree that such stats would be interesting to really anal folks like myself. :grin: But I really don't see even me spending more than a passing, "huh, that's interesting" on it, so I don't think (speaking for myself) that it would be worth the effort needed to implement it. :shrug:

I also don't think I, personally, care much about the clock. I did for a while, but I've pretty much gotten over it. My Palm has a clock, and I got used to being able to see the time right there while I was reading, but I've started to get used to not having it there too. It really isn't necessary to me to be able to see the time on the screen when I've got it on my wrist ... well in my pocket, as I use a pocketwatch, but you know what I mean.

I'd much rather have a chip in my head that receives the atomic clock signals. I don't want it constantly saying "at the sound of the tone ...." but I'd like to be able to query it when I wanted it -- that'd show that friend of my brother's who's always going on about how setting my watch to the atomic clock assumes that my watch has atomic accuracy, when his is six whole minutes different from mine! Like my watch'd have to be atomically accurate to not pick up six minutes in three hours. Pfff!

But I guess that won't happen anytime soon. :mad:

I love the idea about the clock-based stats! Pages/min for each book or overall. Estimates of how long the next chapter will take, so you can decide whether to call it quits or start the next chapter. You could even have a "time remaining estimate"! That would be a really extraneous feature, but if it was simple and seamless it would be a lot of fun. And you can't do that on a paper book! ;-)

IMHO a clock function would be almost as useful as an MP3 player. Make whatever you wish from that statement. :sleepy:

I agree without reservation, slayda! :grin:

Come on, people, don't think about big pink elephant clock. Instead bring new bright ideas what needs to be added/improved/fixed :)

The main purpose of the clock for me is to see what time it is when I'm still up reading at 2:00am and know that I need to go to sleep or I'll be grumpy in the morning. :)

Sorry Slava, but one more pink elephant comment... I have one (clock not elephant) with ereader, and I really like it! But for me it's not worth any significant battery drain or bulges in the case.

Bob, we don't know amount of battery drain (if any) required to show clock in status bar and update it once a minute. Chances are it's tiny (7495 page turns instead of 7500). And again, as I've said, Sony (if they decided to) should make it optional, so ppl who don't need wont turn it on - no battery charge wasted. And "adding" clock should be the lowest priority. Adding Unicode support is tenfold more important to me.

As far as the software/firmware on the Reader itself goes, I only have two improvements: heirarchical file browsing, and the ability to input a page number to jump to (using the numbered buttons).

The Connect software, on the other hand, has a ton of improvements that need to be made. One I can think of is better metadata support, including the abilty to edit metadata and ideally to setup regexp-like patterns for extracting metadata from file names. Another would be a built-in format converter, with the ability to create an LRF file from HTML, Word, LIT (Yeah, right), RTF and PDF. Then the interface just needs to be cleaned up a ton... I'm sure there's a lot more, I come up with a new feature request each time I use the software.

This just proves that Sony's strength is producing solid hardware, not software. (Says the software guy working for Sony ;-))

@slava -- I agree completely! :)

Something like "manga reading mode" in picture wievieng
- i have noticed from people reading manga in landscape mode, have problem, when they finish the down half of the page and go to the next page, it will be displayed the down half of the page, so they must scrool up, read it, scroll down and everything again...
+> it should be (optional) like in PDF, you scrool down, go to next page, begin on the upper half etc.
+> the folder structure will be really neaded for manga, becaus of the usual 200+ images/volume :D

I have to second or third or whatever the idea that we should be able to organize our books better! I think a huge part of the success of the iPod is the song organization and how easy it is to find stuff. Navigating on the reader just makes me hope somone takes this most excellent hardware and creates a replacement OS for it...

Also - I like the pink elephant .. err clock idea for the reasons others have stated.

Bob, we don't know amount of battery drain (if any) required to show clock in status bar and update it once a minute. Chances are it's tiny (7495 page turns instead of 7500). And again, as I've said, Sony (if they decided to) should make it optional, so ppl who don't need wont turn it on - no battery charge wasted. And "adding" clock should be the lowest priority. Adding Unicode support is tenfold more important to me.


I guess my thought was that in order for there to be a clock, the processor would have to stay on continuously. I have to admit I don't know if they could "shut down" everything execpt the "clock circuit". After thinking about it, if there could be a clock without keeping the whole thing on, I'm all for it. Hours and minutes only, NO seconds :)

Don't PCs still use a separate button battery for maintaining the clock? It never needs replacing because it lasts for years and years. But then again, you have much more room in a desktop PC than a reader. Not sure what laptops or UMPCs do for the clock. But I don't think PDAs, for example, lose much power due to timekeeping.

Yeah, the still have the "watch battery" Bob. Same thing in most laptops.

0a) Add Unicode support for books
0b) Add Unicode support for Reader's UI


I agree with Slava.

CJK font or Unicode support for RTF/TXT/PDF, bookmark, and history is very important to us,
Asian users who read in tranditional/simplified Chinese, Japanese, etc.

I think it is not difficult to import proper CJK/Unicode fonts into the Linux OS of Sony Reader.

I would like to second the following possibilities for improvement:

1) Add Unicode fonts (I believe the firmware already does support Unicode, but the fonts are not Unicode, missing all sets above the first 8 bits). Must add Unicode support to menu fonts as well. Even though the Reader is only sold in the U.S., it is wrong to assume that in the country of immigrants it is only going to be used to read books in English.

2) Add text search (with ability to select the search alphabeth to alternate with standard latin keyboard, i.e. Cyrillic, Western European, etc.).

3) Would be nice to add support for multiple 8-bit encodings (beside Unicode), but I don't know if it would be too much for Sony software people to manage (although all of it comes standard with Linux)

4) The clock is not a bad idea

5) Fix the PDF reader (why do the HTMLDoc PDFs turn pages fast, the PrimoPDF - somewhat slower, the PDFCreator - very slowly? Some image-heavy large PDFs I tried take as much as 5 minutes to turn a page!). I noticed that the M mode doesn't seem to take affect when paging forward, but it does when paging backward. The M icon stays, but the PDF is displayed in S mode.

6) Add some more ways to organize the texts in the Reader (folders, Author lists, playlists, whatever)

7) Allow deleting books in firmware (not only through PC-based CONNECT)

8) Open the API and show developers how to create and add their own applications to the Reader. I want to see FBReader ported to this platform, perhaps even Mobireader. This would make Sony Reader an instant cult hit (like Nokia 770, only with a better screen), if not necessarily a mass phenomenon.

After seeing NatCh's numerical analysis of the effects of losing the screen area taken by the status bar, I'm now a fan of the option to go full screen. He said something like the extra area gives you room for a 14pt font for the same content that has to be 10pt with the status bar! Wow, if that's right, it's a big deal!

Actually, Slava came up with that observation (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=41756#post41756), Bob. :)

I just had a number for the pixel height of the bar. I do agree, though that turning it off would be a nice option.



A note to those asking for text searching: You can do text searching in the Connect software. You cannot, on the other hand, enter any text to search for on the Reader itself, as it lacks any sort of text input mechanism.

Just wanted to make sure y'all are thinking about that, because given that singular lack, I just don't think that text searching on the Reader is something that it would be wise to hold your breath on. :grin:

Reader 2.0, perhaps. Or maybe an attachable keyboard....

Actually, Slava came up with that...Ah, thanks. Nice observations Slava as it really stands out when you put it in those terms. Even that tiny bit of real estate on the screen makes a big difference!

Bob, Nathan,

I didn't do that, I swear :)

All I've said that if someone uses "real" screen demensions to created pdf, then to fit same amount of text font size should be reduced.

E.g. with page size 5.24x6.69 I use font size 14. Now, if I change page size to 3.543"x4.606", font size needs to be 10.

Something along those lines :)

Actually, that's just what we're talking about, Slava! You may not have realized you were demonstrating that the status bar takes up what could be another line of text, but that's what you did, nonetheless. :smile:

You get the credit, no good trying to weasel out of it. :grin:

Sounds like the same thing to me, Slava. You definitely deserve all the credit... you just needed a little "marketing" so people could realize how important that observation was! :)

So, what do you suppose our commission on that Marketing should come to, Bob? 10% of the proceeds? :laugh4:

A note to those asking for text searching: You can do text searching in the Connect software. You cannot, on the other hand, enter any text to search for on the Reader itself, as it lacks any sort of text input mechanism.

Just wanted to make sure y'all are thinking about that, because given that singular lack, I just don't think that text searching on the Reader is something that it would be wise to hold your breath on. :grin:

Well, Sony is quite good at on-screen, virtual keyboards. You could, theoretically, have a software keyboard that uses the joystick to select different letters. However, it would be a pain to use, especially with the refresh rate of e-ink. I think we're better off with no on-device search.

I realize there's no text input mechanism, and there's no touch screen, for entering text to search for... but I'd thought of that and don't see it as a hindrance. My TV and TivO lack a keyboard, and yet I search for shows by text in the title all the time... cursor around an alphabet and hit "enter". It might be a bit cumbersome, but I think it's valuable. I have a large .txt library on my PC, and can grep it for text pretty easily there... just thinking of other applications - like say you're on the road and you have your tour guide in your reader... and you KNOW there's a famous fountain here somewhere... so you search for "fountain" and blip through hits on fountain until you find it. (Just a quick example... no need to point out that searching your Rome guidebook for "fountain" would generate a couple of hits per page, heh)

How about this for a far out idea.. Maybe eventually these things could even have an accessory that includes a keyboard and auxiliary LCD screen. Or even better, how about a bluetooth connection to a UMPC or Treo for control and input! Not tomorrow, though!

What I want in the next firmware upgrade:


1. Unicode font support / ability to add font
2. Text search
3. Dictionary support
4. some sort of input support

4. some sort of input support Now you're getting the idea! :laugh4:

I forgot to add one more to be added in the next firmware upgrade:

HTML support

I think that is also very fundamental these days. It's also wrong to ignore html support in the internet era. It shouldn't be that difficult to accomodate it. Probably Librie has that support. Why not Reader?

Librie doesn't support anything except BBeB (LRF). Well, it also supports BBeB dictionaries (MSD), however those are not much use on Reader as it has no input.

I thought Librie' did TXT too. No?

I was thinking about how to implement search on the existing hardware. If you limited the options (case insensitive, only 100 selectable characters) you could just put up a 10x10 table of characters on the screen, then have the user select letters/symbols with two numeric key pushes for each letter (e.g. 11 for "a", 12 for "b", etc).

Aligning the table columns with the physical number buttons might make it easier to "type", as you'd be able to select the first digit pretty quickly.

A couple of "quick input" grids might be an interesting option. Like:
- Align the columns of a 5x5 grid on buttons 1-5 and then connect the right ends of the rows with bold lines to the 6-0 keys. Then you'd just have to follow two strong visual cues to the right buttons. Of course you'd only get 25 symbols so "Q" would have to get tossed out (like the old phone dials).
- A "numbers only" mode that inputted them immediately when pressed.

Not particularly elegant, but it wouldn't require any new hardware, would minimize screen updates and would support elemental search capability.

Very clever idea. I'd like it (assuming the display could keep up). But I think the general reading public might balk at the complexity, even though cell phones and pdas are increasing their tolerance for unusual text input methods.

Very clever idea. I'd like it (assuming the display could keep up). But I think the general reading public might balk at the complexity, even though cell phones and pdas are increasing their tolerance for unusual text input methods.

Yep - I think keeping the hardware and UI as simple and unscary as possible figured heavily in the Sony design. That's my guess as to what drove the "upgrades" from the Libre, like a flat file system, no keyboard, etc.

If you consider Joe Novel Reader - who buys his content from the Connect store - as your target customer that's probably a pretty good call. I've never wanted to search a Tom Clancy novel, for example. Bookmarks are pretty much all I need in that environment.

Same thing with a folder based directory. I imagine the predicted number of "where did my book go?" help line calls was what killed that idea off. Who "needs" to carry more than a dozen novels around at once?

I'm hoping Sony will tacitly support us nerds with something like optional folders (e.g. we've got to explictly create them ourselves, but the reader will then support them) and some kind of primative search feature that you can find if you want it.

Cheers,
Bob

You don't have to use sub-dirs just 'cause they're there. :smile:

Some good news!
I was at the Digital Life show at the Javits in NYC tonight, and I managed to talk to the product manager of the reader. He said that they are actually working on a hierarchal listing in a firmware upgrade. There should also be some more interesting developer tools for creating the BBeB format sometime in the near future, as well as a few more interesting things. They do read this forum it seems, so yay. :)

I have to say I am really looking forward to a firmware update.

Some good news!
I was at the Digital Life show at the Javits in NYC tonight, and I managed to talk to the product manager of the reader. He said that they are actually working on a hierarchal listing in a firmware upgrade.

Nice! I hope they can make this happen in an intuative way. The UI needs some help if they want to be the "iPod of eBooks".

Sony PSP has some kind of input method like for typing web address etc. That 's without the use of any external keyboard. I think BobVa is right; sony can do that of thing for Reader for search capability.

Some good news!
I was at the Digital Life show at the Javits in NYC tonight, and I managed to talk to the product manager of the reader. He said that they are actually working on a hierarchal listing in a firmware upgrade. There should also be some more interesting developer tools for creating the BBeB format sometime in the near future, as well as a few more interesting things. They do read this forum it seems, so yay. :)

I have to say I am really looking forward to a firmware update.
That's definitely good news! ;)

I started to enter your wishes into the Wiki.

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony_Reader_Wishlist

Just add your wishes there and continue to use this thread for discussion, and let's see what will get realized by Sony.

RTF picture support for me. It would make RTF the best of all the formats. Quick to load, easy on the eye, resizable and easily available standard

Make at least one of the buttons user programmable to go 'express' to a specific document I want this to quickly get to an 'info' page with phone numbers, frequent flier info etc.

How's about CHM support? There are a lot of Help files in this format, plus page structure is flexible.

I find buying books and not being able to share them with friends a real limit to EBook's success (the wife brought this up first after using the Connect store). With iTunes you can burn a CD of your bought tracks and share it with friends.

A suggestion would be to have something like a 'lending' capability for EBooks you've bought for a limited number of named friends on the Connect store so they could read them for say 60days?

I also find the lack of a BBeB creating tool really limiting for the Sony Reader, I hope, as mentioned above, something soon comes out from Sony.

You can read one book on up to 6 devices same time. Probably by deauthorizing PC/Reader of one friend who alredy read the book, you can "give" it to another.

That's 6 devices total not at a time. :(

If it is 6 devices total, what is the point of de-authorization (http://ebooks.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ebooks.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=uVnkmdki&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=785&p_li=&p_faqid=685&p_created=1158084410&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfc m93X2NudD05MSZwX3Byb2RzPTM4NiZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9MS4 zODYmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJja F9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**)?-)

You can also land books to the friends (http://ebooks.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ebooks.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=690&p_created=1158084870&p_sid=uVnkmdki&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfc m93X2NudD05MSZwX3Byb2RzPTM4NiZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9MS4 zODYmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJja F9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=).

I was also under the impression that you can have up to 6 authorized, and the book can be read on any of them (even at the same time). And then you could swap out with another device by deauthorizing.

Is that not correct? In other words, are we really saying that at any given time, even if 6 are authorized, the book can only be on one reader at a time? How would that work? You could just pass the file to an SD card, right? And we know that in addition to the Reader, you can read it on the PC which is one of the devices.

You can also land books to the friends (http://ebooks.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ebooks.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=690&p_created=1158084870&p_sid=uVnkmdki&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfc m93X2NudD05MSZwX3Byb2RzPTM4NiZwX2NhdHM9JnBfcHY9MS4 zODYmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJja F9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=).

I don't think it's quite the same thing as it just appears to be another authorized reader. Can a Reader be authorized under two different accounts? And I guess you have to authorize the friends Reader via your own PC.

Yep, I think that's right on. You can probably only share Connect store books across Readers authorized to the same specific account. And I am pretty sure that each Reader device can only be authorized under one account at a time.

Oi! That'll each me to log off early!

Okay, here's the deal, I apologize in advance 'cause it's a bit complicated :)

A Reader can only be authorized on a single account -- when we were out at Sony, Bob, you might remember (don't know if you saw it or not) that one of the units they showed us wouldn't authorize to the Connect Store, because it was already authorized on another account. Gave a message that basically said that: already authorized to another account, or something similar.

That much I'm quite certain about. :yes:

My understanding is that a given book can only be read on up to 6 devices (one of which must be the downloading PC). Yes you can de/authorize Readers (and PC's for that matter), but once you hit six that have been authorized for a given book (even if they've since been deauthorized) it'll balk at letting you put that book on the seventh. You'll have to call and get them to reset the device count on the books.

That's what I understood to be the way it works: 6 books at a time, with a manual 'reset' process.

I'm pretty sure I understood it correctly, but I suppose it is possible that they've changed it, though I haven't seen any indications to that effect. :shrug:

A couple of old (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=32456&postcount=18) posts (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=32537&postcount=27) that explain it a bit better. :beam:

Some good news!
I was at the Digital Life show at the Javits in NYC tonight, and I managed to talk to the product manager of the reader. He said that they are actually working on a hierarchal listing in a firmware upgrade. There should also be some more interesting developer tools for creating the BBeB format sometime in the near future, as well as a few more interesting things. They do read this forum it seems, so yay. :)

I have to say I am really looking forward to a firmware update.I've also seen some indications that would seem to corroborate Kaitou Ace's comments on a firmware change to handle hierachical file structures. :beam:

I've also seen some indications that would seem to corroborate Kaitou Ace's comments on a firmware change to handle hierachical file structures. :beam:Please! I'm dying in flat file hell here. I'd like books by category (or not) sorted within category by date or author. Categories collapsed until you select them.

I also would like a toggle between active books function, that toggles between, say, the last three to five books I've read.

A search function would be great, and for data input I'd even be happy with T9 or Multitap, just like on my cellphone.

I really should also be able to delete a book on my device or move it from the internal memory to the sd card or vice versa.

I need a Reader specific authoring tool, preferably one that will easily read an oeb project and convert it to a perfect lrf. Failing that, please please please expand the content of the bookstore. Granted, it's better than the Rocket eBook store was at inception, but there are so many book already released for ereader or ms-reader that are not available on connect, or, if they are, are priced far beyond the ereader or curent MMP price.

This product has had a great launch - if Sony intends to get behind it and keep people interested, they have GOT to deal with the content issues. The connect store is hollow, badly laid out and gives you a limited ability to search. And stuff is in the wrong place. It's like comparing a B&N or Borders with a small airport bookstore/newstand.

See, it doesn't take much to keep me happy. All I really want is Gemstar's 1150 OS, Sony's eInk screen and battery life, and Amazon's selection at remainder prices. :D

Please! I'm dying in flat file hell here. I'd like books by category (or not) sorted within category by date or author. Categories collapsed until you select them.You can do some of what you want using Collections.

If you creat Collections in the Connect Software, you can put the files in them, and arrange them in your prefered order, rather than alphabetically. Once you have a Collection the way you want it, you can drop the whole collection onto the Reader and access the books in it through the Collections menu on the Reader.

The "Books" listing will still be a mess, showing everything in alpha order, but you can at least find the book you want pretty quickly through the Collection.

You can do some of what you want using Collections.

If you creat Collections in the Connect Software, you can put the files in them, and arrange them in your prefered order, rather than alphabetically.


That's a good tip, but bear in mind that for some reason Collections can't be put on a card/stick - as Natch points out, you need to drop the Collection ON the reader, not a card.

Cheers,
Bob

I'm hopefull that will be addressed in the first firmware patch (whenever it is). Actually I'm hoping the hierarchical files thing will be adressed then too. :beam:

Go ahead, call me an optimist, I can take it. :grin:

A lot of the complaints I have would be pretty easily solved by just copying iTunes. ;)
Really? iTunes is possibly the worst piece of windows software in existence. It's entirely inaccessible to screen readers or high contrast settings, it's about as intuitive as a donkey on a bicycle, and it regularly screws up my ipod. Not sure if I want those "features" in this software.

Considering text search, it's really not that hard, how many buttons does your celphone have? People enter text on those all the time.

I suppose they could assume a standard cell number to letter mapping scheme ... that may be the best idea I've heard yet!

But isn't the question about input still the question about whether or not the screen can keep up?

Notist the time count in the music player is pretty quick... Not much ghosting. Actuay fastinating on how fast the screen really is.

One inprovement would be in the Connect software. Simply a better difference on the Right click commands. Its verry hard to see what you can and cant do.

I suppose they could assume a standard cell number to letter mapping scheme ... that may be the best idea I've heard yet!

Could the USB port be set to read a small usb keyboard.

I don't think so ... at least not as shipped. :wink: You see the USB isn't a Master USB, but as to whether a hack could make such a keyboard function or not .... :shrug:

But that would be nice, wouldn't it? :grin:

Regarding Bob's comment on the screen responsiveness, I think it'd be okay. I've played with the screen lock function under utilities in the main menu, which uses the number keys to enter a code, it responded agreeably. The jogstick seems to navigate the menus well enough, though there is some stutter (I think it's more from the powersaving spool-down than the screen's refresh characteristics). And of course the counter on the audio player works just fine, as Nightwing noted. :beam:

I don't think so ... at least not as shipped. :wink: You see the USB isn't a Master USB, but as to whether a hack could make such a keyboard function or not ....

But that would be nice, wouldn't it? :grin:

Regarding Bob's comment on the screen responsiveness, I think it'd be okay. I've played with the screen lock function under utilities in the main menu, and it uses the number keys to enter a code, it responded agreeably. And the jogstick seems to navigate the menus well enough, though there is some stutter, I think it's more from the powersaving spool-down than the screen. And of course, the counter on the audio player works just fine, as Nightwing's noted. :beam:


One can hope... ^_^ I know the Dell PDA x3i can be coax into a host but not designed that way... Puts a load on the sytem...

You can do some of what you want using Collections.

If you creat Collections in the Connect Software, you can put the files in them, and arrange them in your prefered order, rather than alphabetically. Once you have a Collection the way you want it, you can drop the whole collection onto the Reader and access the books in it through the Collections menu on the Reader.

The "Books" listing will still be a mess, showing everything in alpha order, but you can at least find the book you want pretty quickly through the Collection.Not quite - collections cannot be stored on the SD card and books that belong to the collection appear to need to be stored in the same location as the list. At least that's been my experience. I have too many ebooks to rely solely on the internal memory.

I suppose they could assume a standard cell number to letter mapping scheme ... that may be the best idea I've heard yet!Yup T9 or Multitap. The only thing I'd wonder is how well the system could keep up. I know when I'm unlocking my screen with the screen code, the number display lags way behind the key presses.

Margin settings for RTF files... I'd like to be able to choose whether the text is left justified or full justified (spacing adjusted to have consistent right and left margins).

As far as I can tell, rtf text always comes out left justified right now. But it's just not as nice looking as it would be if it was full justified like the store books or paper books are.

My RTF files are justified, if I set the file to be justified ... I think, anyway ... yeah I just checked, I've got an RTF that's showing fully justified. :shrug:

Author alphabetization by last name instead of first would be nice. Not a big deal for small collections, but as we get more books on there...

You can use the Collections feature to group your books in any way you like ... but it doesn't presently work on memory cards. :sad:

My RTF files are justified, if I set the file to be justified ... I think, anyway ... yeah I just checked, I've got an RTF that's showing fully justified. :shrug:Thanks Nathan! Sure enough, RTF includes that in the formatting. Good deal!

Add to the "Utilities" on every book a "Delete this book" and "Screen Orientation" functions.

Already added to Wiki

May I add Connect for Mac OS? Please? It's somewhat painful on parallels.

Heh, it's "somewhat painful" on WinXP, jmdor. :smile:

instead of a software update, how about a decent library manager?
I knew there would be trouble with kinomo (or however it is spelled) who killed off the Sony music service. From the amount of hangs, inability for the library to hold a decent amount of books without hanging, etc. I am just so fustrated with the POS connect software. A repeat of how they killed off HiMD.

Just to be fair: Kinoma didn't work on Sony's SonicStage software.

My understanding was that they did - and was the reason for the c**p that came out.

http://news.com.com/How+Sony+failed+to+Connect%2C+again/2100-1027_3-6078659.html

didn't read the prior message where Sonicstage was mentioned. Yes, kinoma had nothing to do with the earlier versions - the ones that actually worked for me. Kind of clunky, but not the POS that was released as the last version that they did have a hand in.

The last version was so awful and I was told that they were the reason for it from a Sony exec that was sitting next to me on a plane. He asked me about the minidisc player that I had (newer model HiMD) and while I was praising the good features (incredible battery life, 40 hours per disk, didn't worry about getting stuck somewhere without a recharger because it took 'AA' cells, etc. But his face just fell and he fess'd up to the software shortcomings when I started sayign what was wrong with the thing.

Here are a couple more features I'd love to see on the Reader:

1) Fix reversed pixels

I'd like to be able to fix a reversed pixel by navigating to it with the joystick and then confirming a reversal. It would have to require some kind of utility code to keep the average user from it, but it would be a natural way to fix a screen.

--> The issue is something that someone posted about before on the iRex forums, and that I have on my Sony Reader screen. A single pixel is reversed. It's not stuck because it's clearly black when it should be white and it's white when it should be black. It's so tiny it doesn't ruin the experience completely, and at times can't even be noticed. But it often feels like there's a speck of dirt on the screen so it's a bit of a bother. I haven't gotten around to contacting Sony support yet, but will see if there's anything that they can do.

2) Partial page turns (line by line)

Have you ever had a title or heading or new paragraph in the middle of a page? It's a natural stopping point or the first part of a new section of a book. I'd love to be able to push the screen up by a half-line or by a line at a time, so I can choose which line ends up on the top of the page. Especially for text I want to pick up on again later. Just aesthetics, but it would be nice to be able to scroll to make a page start where I want it to.

Tsk, tsk. You can't do '2)' with a book, Bob! :laugh4:

Well, neither can you resize and reflow text on a paper book, but it's great to have available on the Sony Reader! ;-)

But I agree with what I take away from your comment... simplicity is paramount, and all of our wishlist items need to be balanced out with whether or not they take away from the simplicity and effectiveness of the book paradigm.

That's why they pay the Sony folks the big bucks -- they have to make those tough choices and live under real product design constraints. As a consumer, I don't have to be practical, and have the freedom to give them long lists of wistful ideas! :D

But I agree with what I take away from your comment....That's a lot more than I meant to put into it. I just wanted to yank your chain a bit. :jester:

Got another one.

Connect Store: When buying a book that is part of a series-- Option to be notified when new books that are part of that series are available.

I didn't see this mentioned, but I find it would be highly desirable and crucial: even though now you can jump pages within a book, you cannot jump pages within the book list. I wish I can jump 10 pages (by one button click) through book list, or I can specify which page to go to by clicking two or three number buttons. Suppose you have 100 pages of book list, which is 1000 books shown in 100 pages. As the Reader stands now, if I want to jump to page 50 to find a book title and read it, it will take me 50 clicks, which is extremely unconvenient.

Got another one.

Connect Store: When buying a book that is part of a series-- Option to be notified when new books that are part of that series are available.

Well first they have to actually be able to tell you that the book is part of a series and which series, they can't even seem to do that right now. :)

Well first they have to actually be able to tell you that the book is part of a series and which series, they can't even seem to do that right now. :)
Yeah, I know. All my hopes are sure to be shattered.

Add to the utilities menu of a book, convert a set of book marks to a table of contents for RTF books. This would allow you to create a series of book marks, Convert the book marks to a table of ToC, then delete the book mark set and use bookmarks as usual with a seperate ToC.

Add an option enter numbers to go to page ____ of ____ (or even ___%). This would allow you to approximately jump to the equivalent of a certain page number in a paper book, or e-book being read on another platform.

So, if I'm read something on my Treo and on my Reader, I can find my place fast:

* When I finish page 142 of 1240 on the Treo and switch to the Reader, I just enter 142/1240 on the Reader, fish out my exact place, and continue reading.

* When I finish page 264 on the Reader, I just do a text search on the Treo to find my place and continue reading on the Treo.

Good ideas in this thread.

I'd like to second the Mac version of the Connect store.

I'd also like a bigger font - it's not only kids that will use this thing!

Since DDoyle mentioned fonts, for my two cents I think that additional font support is important.
I understand that loading more fonts onto the Reader may suck up internal memory, but I can see it being an added bonus, especially when trying to win the argument regarding versatility of e-paper.
Until the Reader can offer something close to the panoply of choices offered by MS Word & its ilk, the Reader cannot compare to a printed page.
I just had a scary thought--can Fonts be proprietary?....
Anyway, a larger database of available fonts, definitely.

Add to the utilities menu of a book, convert a set of book marks to a table of contents for RTF books. This would allow you to create a series of book marks, Convert the book marks to a table of ToC, then delete the book mark set and use bookmarks as usual with a seperate ToC.

This sounds like a good stopgap but it would be better to import the TOC as part of the rtf.

I didn't take the time to backscroll through the thread, but I'd like a delete option on the device. When I'm done reading something, I want to get rid of it right away and not have to use Connect Reader to do so.

I just had a scary thought--can Fonts be proprietary?....

Unfortunately, yeah. From what I've read, quality fonts take lots of time. I'm guessing it might take hundreds of man-hours to create one that can be used in body text (and not just headlines), so you have to pay for them.

A few years ago, I scrounged the internet for free fonts, and most of the fonts I found were stylistic headline fonts. The headline fonts only did uppercase letters, numbers, and maybe some punctuation. Accented characters? Forget it. Back then, the selection of free-fonts-you'd-want to-read-a-book-with was dismal.

If anyone can find any good free fonts, please correct me. In the meantime, I'll try trawling the web again, and tell you my results.

Willy G--

I guess that makes sense. I suppose that what I meant was, er....how much of the copy of MS Word/XL is fonts? Is licensure a problem for the Reader, and its subsequent finance, or was I closer to the mark with the limited available memory?
It makes sense that if you write code, then you can charge money for it. It's a form of work. When I say 'proprietary,' I'm thinking in terms of Windows not playing well with SONY, and MAC not dealing with Windows, having to use HP paper in my HP printer and a HP moist towelette to clean the screen, &tc.

Ah.

I worked for my college yearbook once, and was quite surprised that we had to buy the fonts. They were made by Adobe, and cost at least $50 a piece. You want a complete set--regular, bold, italic, bold-italic, compressed, expanded--then expect to pay hundreds of dollars. But that was for PostScript fonts, which are print quality.

You're talking about the different kinds of fonts: PostScript, PCL, TrueType, etc. The Sony Reader uses TrueType fonts (.ttf), which are used by Windows, Mac, and Linux. And that's good for us, because (as mentioned in Wikipedia):

TrueType is now the most common format for fonts on today's Mac OS X and Windows XP, although both also include native support for Adobe's Type 1 format and the OpenType extension to TrueType. While many of the fonts provided with the system are now in the OpenType format, most free or inexpensive third-party fonts use plain TrueType.
Which improves our chances of finding free fonts. So, I'll go back to trawling for fonts.

If anyone can find any good free fonts, please correct me. In the meantime, I'll try trawling the web again, and tell you my results.

The BitStream Vera (http://www.gnome.org/fonts/) family looks pretty good.

http://www.bitstream.com/font_rendering/images/vera.gif

Fonts are very expensive. I worked in the printing industry for 11 years and can tell you that most advertising agencies spend a small fortune on them.

The best one can do to find inexpensive fonts is to look at a computer store for those little multi-font packs. Usually they're TrueType and some of them will be absolute crap, but you'll find some gems.

I would like to see a back button as in if I am reading and accidently click on one of the bottom buttons 1-0 that moves my book into far away pages and then I don't know where I was unless I pay attention to my page, and then getting there is another thing. A back button somehow would make things easier for this type of error. As it is now, I try to set a bookmark every so often so it's easier to get back where I am at.

The little joystick works as a back button. press it to the left, and it will jump you back to where you were.

Granted, it could be made easier, but it is there.

The little joystick works as a back button. press it to the left, and it will jump you back to where you were.

Granted, it could be made easier, but it is there.

Thank you. I found that out after the fact...... I am glad the feature is there, because I have hit those little buttons about 3 times now within the week I have had the reader........ Yikes.....

Only thrice in a week? You aren't trying very hard. :grin:

Only thrice in a week? You aren't trying very hard. :grin:

give me time, LOL....... I haven't been on it enough either..... been busy reading forums, ha ha ha... And I thought three times was bad <snicker> :p

How about text search? I think their remarks on this were that they'd considered it, but decided against it based on focus group feedback. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that's almost mandatory?
I think you need to rethink what this product was designed to do. It's not a computer, it's a book. So if you need to search you need to use the old fashion thing called an Index. In most cases I can find thengs faster in the index any way. Besides the search feature would have added $100's of dollars to the price because sony would need to add an input device (which is missing on the product to keep the price reasonable).

Nice thought, jgbrut, but the index really isn't an option on the Reader either -- page navigation is cumbersome as there's no 'go to page' function, and the page numbers change depending on font size in the first place, so the usefulness of an index would be pretty limited. :sad2:

On the other hand, most of the stuff I read (fiction) doesn't have indices in the first place, and I haven't missed the search so far. :shrug:

If I got too desparate, I could always run my search in the Connect software on the PC side. :nice:

We'll just have to wait for Google to write an add-on for the Reader. :)

I'd love to see an option where when you hit the "Mark" button, rather than just setting a mark on the page, it would overlay the 1 through 0 arrows that you see in the reader's main menus, and would then place the bookmark at whichever of those ten locations which you select.

This has the effect of making the book-mark system much more like sticking a post-it in a book than of folding over the corner, and would be a huge improvement in terms of at least noting interesting passages; pinpointing several lines rather than an entire page would make life a lot easier in terms of annotating later.

My "must haves":

1. Support for pictures in RTF files. There are many books for which pictures are an essential element, and many more which are greatly enhanced by them.

2. A rapid method of going to a specific page. This should not be difficult to implement, given the fact that the "number keys" can already be used for entering a password if you enable "screen lock". In a large book, the "moving through by 10ths" can still leave you hundreds of pages away from the desired location.

Lower priority:

1. Text searching. This would require the use of an on-screen "virtual keyboard" which would obviously be more effort.

2. Support for HTML files. This would be a great help. I know you can easily enough convert HTML to RTF, but you lose the hyperlinks by doing that. Hyperlinks make things like "Contents" pages a lot easier to implement.

Besides the search feature would have added $100's of dollars to the price because sony would need to add an input device (which is missing on the product to keep the price reasonable).

It could be done with an on-screen "virtual keyboard" where, say, each letter was accessed with a 2-digit code. It would be a little awkward to use, but should be good enough for entering short words of phrases for searching.

I do understand the e-ink is so much easier on the eyes, but I would love to see an optional backlight for the device. I would even forfeit longer battery life for such a thing. There are many instances when I would love to read, but many of them find me "in the dark"

e-Ink is opaque, so you can't really backlight it. That being said, however, there are a lot of third party lights that work just fine with it. Better, actully, since they can't interfere with page turning. :grin:

They could try to light the screen from the sides, like on wristwatches, but I think the screen is too big for that. I think a clip-on light is better.

Here's another idea: What about those USB-powered lights? They won't fit into the USB-b slot on the Reader, but maybe with an adapter...

Yah, we're waiting to see what LightWedge comes up with (now that thev've said they're making one).

As for the USB port -- there's no power on it. They told us that a while back, but I've confirmed it with the good old DMM -- no dice. :(

There may be power available on the SD slot ....

I discovered the bookmark button within the CONNECT software. however, it appears to only work on the books in the Library. The button is grayed out when selecting a book in the Reader or a book on the SD card. It this a bug?

It is the biggest gripe of mine. A workaround should be a USB cable connection with e.g. Blackberry Perl (or any other smart phone/keyboard) to be used as an input device for the search function or for making notes (calender input, etc). Otherwise an internal keyboard will be required.
I would also like to see the joystick enabled cursor. One could position it at the beginning of the text, press the "1" button and move the joystick/cursor to the right (or down for the whole line, paragraph) and have the text higlighted (marker effect for making annotations in the text or underlining as an option). Pressing the "2" button would finish the selection.
I would also like to see the sync feature with Microsoft Outlook for Calendar, Address book and To Do list (Notes).
Thanks to Sony for bringing otherwise a wonderful device to the market.

I discovered the bookmark button within the CONNECT software. however, it appears to only work on the books in the Library. The button is grayed out when selecting a book in the Reader or a book on the SD card. It this a bug?I think it's more in the category of things that didn't seem to get finished. :shrug:

If it helps any, you can set Marks in a text inside Connect before you xfer the file to the Reader, the Marks will show up on the Reader, even though you can't manipulate them there.

It is the biggest gripe of mine. A workaround should be a USB cable connection with e.g. Blackberry Perl (or any other smart phone/keyboard) to be used as an input device for the search function or for making notes (calender input, etc). Otherwise an internal keyboard will be required.
I would also like to see the joystick enabled cursor. One could position it at the beginning of the text, press the "1" button and move the joystick/cursor to the right (or down for the whole line, paragraph) and have the text higlighted (marker effect for making annotations in the text or underlining as an option). Pressing the "2" button would finish the selection.
I would also like to see the sync feature with Microsoft Outlook for Calendar, Address book and To Do list (Notes).
Thanks to Sony for bringing otherwise a wonderful device to the market.

There are keyboard that have come out for PDA in the past. Hum... There is a series of PIC chips that have USB communication HW built in and enough I/O pins to pole a keyboard. They look like a RS232 device. Now if a small hack could be done to the kernal or better program the PIC chip to act like a HOST could do an end run so to speak on control and possibility editing.

If a search function was added I could see this as a reader and a mobile look up source. Know some clients that if it had a search would buy it in an instant.


You can "print" a copy of your contacts from outlook. I know its a work around but I don't change them that much. Once a week works for me.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showpost.php?p=44003&postcount=29


Guess it may be possible to cook up a VC/VB program to extract Outlook info by a click of a button and pop it out in a readable format.

Excellent tip, Nightwing. Many thanks!

Also forgot to add a request for an extra page "Ownership Info" below Settings that could be a splash page once Lock was activated. It could give info (tel., email) for those who find it in case the eREader got lost...

Also forgot to add a request for an extra page "Ownership Info" below Settings that could be a splash page once Lock was activated. It could give info (tel., email) for those who find it in case the eREader got lost...

Again, though, just as for text searching, that would require some text input mechanism, such as an on-screen keyboard. Unless it was done from the PC "Connect" software, of course.

A workaround should be a USB cable connection with e.g. Blackberry Perl (or any other smart phone/keyboard) to be used as an input device for the search function or for making notes (calender input, etc).

Can't be done. The Reader is a USB "client", not a USB "host" and, as such, can't be attached to another USB client such as a mobile phone or keyboard.

Great idea, sonybuff!

I'd expand upon the idea, by adding a LoJack feature: if the Reader has been reported stolen to Sony, then when it logs into Connect, the Reader contacts the authorities, reporting the IP address of the host computer.
If the host computer is dialing the Internet via modem, it reports the phone number from which the computer is calling.

I'm not an engineer (IANAE), but since it runs its own OS--Linux--I'd think this is possible now, or with a firmware upgrade. I think you could do something similar with PDAs, iPods, game consoles, and other gadgets which both connect to the Internet and run their own OS.

Great idea, sonybuff!

If the host computer is dialing the Internet via modem, it reports the phone number from which the computer is calling.

How would it do that? A program could probably find out, if the computer was using "dial-up networking", the number that it was dialling to reach the Internet, but I don't believe that any mechanism exists for discovering the phone number of the line it's dialling out on, does it?

Well, Absolute Software claims they can do that with their LoJack for laptops (http://www.lojackforlaptops.com) software. That's why I think it's feasible.

The big question is--is such a feature marketable for gadgets that cost $250-$1000? "LoJack for Umbrellas" will never see the light of day, in my opinion.

Some have mentioned the option of deleting files on the Reader as a feature that they would like to have. I see no reason for implementing this useless feature.

The only purpose of deleting files is to gain additional space in the storage area of the Reader. While this is well and good, the space cannot be reused until the Reader is connected to a computer to place more files on it.

Second, while the additional memory card can be used to transfer files without the Reader, it too must be placed in some other device (camera, phone, PDA, computer) to manipulate the files on it.

The only reason to delete files on the Reader without the Reader connected to a computer is to hide that the Reader even contained the files in the first place. While this may be good for crib notes in an exam, it serves no purpose in the real world.

Some have mentioned the option of deleting files on the Reader as a feature that they would like to have. I see no reason for implementing this useless feature.

The only purpose of deleting files is to gain additional space in the storage area of the Reader.Believe it or not, this is one of the features I want most! But not because of space.

Here's my thinking: I keep about 10 books on the Reader now. (Started out with about two, but I like the greater variety, and having some queued up for later.) I like the main list of books to be clean. That's what it's all about for me.

I want the main list to be on one page if possible, and I feel irrationally happy when after finishing a book I can delete it. Hard to explain, except that it's very similar to finishing a todo on a task list. Doesn't it feel really good to cross it off?!!!

On the other hand, If there were really slick categories that were well-integrated into all the menus, I probably would be happy if I could move the book into a "Finished" category and out of the main book list, but I think that would be a lot of software work, and I don't think they'd get it right anyway.

Here's my thinking: I keep about 10 books on the Reader now. (Started out with about two, but I like the greater variety, and having some queued up for later.) I like the main list of books to be clean. That's what it's all about for me.

I want the main list to be on one page if possible, and I feel irrationally happy when after finishing a book I can delete it. Hard to explain, except that it's very similar to finishing a todo on a task list. Doesn't it feel really good to cross it off?!!!


I feel exactly the same, Bob. I also have an iPod which I mainly use to listen to audio books, and it really bugs me that I can't delete files off that, other than with the "iTunes" software, for exactly the same reason - the feeling of satisfaction; "that's another one finished!"

:p

Speaking of suggestions, what bothers me most about the Reader navigation is that when I choose a book, I go to yet another menu instead of going directly to my place in the book. I want to go directly to my place in a book when I choose that book.

Isn't that more a book paradigm? Isn't it simpler? When people keep seeing menus it feels complicated. And you are supposed to make the most common actions easy, not the exception cases!

99% of the time I want to start reading, not look at another menu. If I wanted the menu, I'd rather go to the book and then hit a key to pull up a menu. This one kind of blows me away when I think about it. What were they thinking? (Kind of like not being able to jump to page NN by entering the number buttons! Why can't we do that?!)

Some have mentioned the option of deleting files on the Reader as a feature that they would like to have. I see no reason for implementing this useless feature.

The only purpose of deleting files is to gain additional space in the storage area of the Reader. While this is well and good, the space cannot be reused until the Reader is connected to a computer to place more files on it.

...

The only reason to delete files on the Reader without the Reader connected to a computer is to hide that the Reader even contained the files in the first place. While this may be good for crib notes in an exam, it serves no purpose in the real world.

Not all of us have something to hide, RWood.

I'm with Bob on this-- I like to delete books when I'm done with them. Since I tend to load a bunch of books on the reader and not connect it to my computer for weeks at a time I don't think it is unreasonable to be able to delete documents at will.

I also have a lot of pdf documents I transfered to my reader to use as reference material. I can read them fine in the computer software, but when I look at them on the reader the font is too small to be useful. Since I can't access the reader when it is plugged in to the computer, I have to do the following:

1. Open the document on the reader-- see that the document is unreadable.
2. Write down the name of the document-- remember that you cannot access the reader once it is connected to the computer.
3. Connect the reader to the computer.
4. Run Connect Reader software.
5. After several minutes, do a force-quit from the program manager because the Connect Reader program has locked up.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as needed.
7. Find the file I want to delete and remove it from the reader.
8. Disconnect the reader, turn it on, and check if I have deleted the correct file.

Exactly what is wrong with keeping things simple?

Deleting files from the Reader on the Reader is a simple thing, and I suppose it's a good point that the actual utility might not be all that great, but I too am in the "I want it gone when I want it gone" camp. :shrug:

I'll even spot you that it's based mostly on a non-logical desire, but here's the question I see: if it's a simple thing, and it makes folks happy (however irrationally), then why not do it? :happy:

As for the Book Menu thing, I think they wanted to be sure to offer the other functions in that menu, and perhaps didn't apply enough imagination to find a way to do so other than forcing us to go through the menu. Easy for me to say because it doesn't really bother me: I just go through the All Bookmarks menu to get back to where I was (when I didn't just leave things there to begin with). I can access that menu from anywhere by holding down the Mark button. :smile:

Of course, that means I'll probably wear that button out shortly after the Next button on the left edge. :nice:

I'll even spot you that it's based mostly on a non-logical desire, but here's the question I see: if it's a simple thing, and it makes folks happy (however irrationally), then why not do it? :happy:

This boils down to the old adage: "The customer is always right." As long as it's not harmful, why not? If a majority of the potential customers surveyed want feature X, then you should add that feature, or provide a reasonable explanation for why you aren't adding it.

The only reason to delete files on the Reader without the Reader connected to a computer is to hide that the Reader even contained the files in the first place. While this may be good for crib notes in an exam, it serves no purpose in the real world.

I beg to differ Sir.

In addition to books, I download articles from various periodicals like the Economist, WSJ, FT, etc. Do to the lack of hierarchy, and the number of files on the device, management of "old files" demands time when the Reader is connected to the computer, that is a complete waste, if the article or book could be deleted at the time I was finished with it. Lack of the feature in effect makes me "carry home" all the old newspapers, and magazines, that I would have discarded along the way, but for the lack of this simple feature.

Everyone uses the Reader differently, but you may have noted on a different thread that one of the suggested expansions of the Sonny Connect business model would be to provide "subscriptions" through their website (for a fee??) formatted for the Reader. If they do provide this service in the future, it will exacerbate the issue further.

JMHO

...one of the suggested expansions of the Sonny Connect business model would be to provide "subscriptions" through their website (for a fee??) formatted for the Reader. If they do provide this service in the future, it will exacerbate the issue further.Excellent point, SoCal Bob, I hadn't even thought of the implications of subscriptions with no delete. Not a pretty thought, that is.

Unless they did it the way that iPod "Podcasts" work. With that, you can specify "keep the most recent x downloads" of a Podcast, with older ones automatically deleted. That's useful with time-critical downloads, like news reports. Last weeks news is of little interest.

Interestingly, you can not delete podcasts from the iPod itself. I don't listen to music, only podcasts, so I'd like to be able to delete them from the iPod itself, but I can't. Waah.

You can't delete any audio content from the iPod itself. Real nuisance.

I'd like the inclusion of proper italic, bold and bold italic typefaces in the firmware not just the roman (tt0003m_.ttf, tt0011m_.ttf, tt0419m_.ttf) font files.

Sony needs to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and partner up with some other providers for their RSS/News/Periodical content - e.g., AvantGo. If Sony could get AvantGo on the Sony Reader (and have it automagically sync everytime it is connected by USB), it would be revolutionary.

1. Add possibility to *not* generate icons from picture files. If I put appr. 2000 manga jpgs on a memory card and inserts it, not using the Connect Software (I'm not running Windows), it takes literally a couple of hours for the reader to index the card.
2. Stop inserting borders around pdfs, i e let pdfs use the whole image area. This is easy to see by saving a single picture as a pdf without borders, preferably a picture with dark edges. Look at such a pdf on the reader and you will see the white border added around the picture.

2. Stop inserting borders around pdfs, i e let pdfs use the whole image area. This is easy to see by saving a single picture as a pdf without borders, preferably a picture with dark edges. Look at such a pdf on the reader and you will see the white border added around the picture.


I agree completely. I think they created their formatting standards while working with an unfinished or software version of the device. I don't see how someone actually using it would think, "This text really needs a nice one inch border in addition to the device casing."

Tetris or Klondike or some kind of solitaire card game or maybe even Ridge Racer PRS edition (1 frame per 2 seconds).

So who out there is working on the MAME and other emulators?

Ok got the reader had it for a few days now. So far VERY impressed with the hardware its WONDERFUL and BEAUTIFUL (always a good combination)

Well as usually Great Hardware always seems to come with crappy software :-( why oh why can't they make good software. My Zen Vision VGA is the pinnacle of gorgeous media player hardware and its got software so sucky that parts of it are a PITA to even use (IN DEVICE hardware NOT PC side hardware)

I installed the sony connect software for ONE reason and one reason only. TO log in to get my $50 credit :-) otherwise is SD card reader for me.

Anyway My suggestions.
First who made this thing with no way to JUMP to a specific page ? hello we got all 10 digits right there at the bottom thats a no brainer.

PDB support would be nice (I have zillions of PDB's)

Smaller font selection for the book list. IE I want 20-25 titles on the page not 10.

FOLDER STRUCTURE SUPPORT PLEASE- I want to load HUNDREDS of books onto this. Not a chance with the current interface. I only have 30 on there now and its a royal PITA to get to a desired book. I want to create a folder and see nothing but those folders and navigate THROUGH them like I would on a computer. Why do manufactures seem to have a FETISH about NOT providing this kind of no brainer interface.

WHY OH WHY won't it use the FILENAME as the title of the book when none is present please.

Is there no way to access 100% of the screen for reading PDF's ? How do you rename a PDF so it has a TITLE in the list ?

The only hardware aspect I really did not like was the Lithium Battery. I would much rather have preferred the AAA usage of the original LIBRIE over a rechargeable Especially for such a lower power device such as this. Then I would know this device would function for me as long as I could keep the hardware in one piece.

I also wish the joystick would navigate page. IT WILL go forward and backwards but only through pages you have already viewed (IT its like the back and forward buttons in a web browser) I am glad for TWO sets of next back buttons since inevitably these will be what wears out first so you get 2 lifes out of them this way. just wish one was on the right since I read fast enough that I have to either hold it with right hand on the left (cross) or hold it in the MIDDLE with my left hand (neither of which is totally comfortable) (I have big hands)

A way to illuminate this with something super thing like the edge thing would be nice but I would want it to actually snap onto the reader firmly AND to be VERY thin and not get in the way (Dongle neck lights are a ni go for this for the same reason they are a no go for paper books they suck and are a pain in the butt :-)

Other than that I have no other issues or complaints about the device. I am very pleased with it. (OK I would like a leather cover in orange. the green one is ok but I really want a bright orange one) :-)

If I had to minimize my complain/suggestion list.

#1 DIRECTORY access and organization on the reader
#2 Direct page entry
#3 Filename as Title Option for all files always for No Title Files

#4 Bonus Delete from device FYI this is not to HIDE its presense its to ELIMINATE its presence therby REMOVING it from my BOOK LIST so its not so CLUTTERED as I read and delete stuff.

#5 PDB File support

While not so important for BOOKS this WILL become important for subscription type stuff (weekly daily stuff or scraped web content etc..)

Clarification on #1 NO INDEXING or CACHING etc.. JUST load the file structure. worry about what it is when I select it. I don't want it premaking thumbnails or any such crap. just show me my files and let me load them.

But I would be very happy with just 1-3

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

I'm not sure why you have #4 & #5 on your list, but you can remove the bonus books it comes with (which is what I presume you meant) and PDFs are definitely supported.

#4 is delete FROM the device without connecting to a computer. While on vacation and just in general this lets me "thin" my list as I go along ESPECIALLY for dynamic content like web scrapings etc.. this is LESS critical if they enable #1 since I can then organize so no list is "huge" or others called it "flat"

#5 I said PDB B as in BRAVO not F as in foxtrot. PDB is a PALM reader format (close to txt I believe) its convenient and easy and I have 9000 ebooks in this format already and have yet to find a convenient mass conversion too to make them txt :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

How do you rename a PDF so it has a TITLE in the list ? PDF titles are derived from the Properties meta tags in the PDF. These can be set by the full version of Adobe Acrobat and some other PDF editing software. A few (I don't know which ones off hand) will carry forward the tags from the document that they are converting into the PDF.

PDB support would be nice (I have zillions of PDB's) I have used the free utility ABC Amber Palm Converter (http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html) with great success. I only had a half zillion PDB files to convert. When used along with Stingo's RTF formatting macro the output is great.

Cool this abc allows batch conversion ? (I can sick it on a folder ?) and where do I get this stingo's macro if its not included in the download ? (going out to dinner will try this tommorrow :-)

thanks !
Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

nerys: Here is the link (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8793) to the thread (here in mobileread) with the formatting macro for MS Word.

I suggest that you read through through the entire thread as the macro evolved a bit and there are several options available for what you may want to include or exclude from youyr version. I set mine up to format files the way I like to read them. Others have their own (flawed) version of how they like to see the files.

As for the ABC Amber Converter, the install program puts it in the "Program Files" subdirectory and you can then execute it from there. I set up a special subdirectory for the PDA -> RTF converted files and then ran the macro on each file. Some of the original PDA files I had contained several runs of hard paragraph marks that required special attention.

hmmm I don't want to use RTF or involve word (gonna go read that thread anyway though). Can I use this to convert to TXT ? (I guess I will find out as I am going to try it in the next hour or so :-) I don't have MS word and no real desire to install it :-)

I don't care much about formatting as long as indentations and paragraphs are like there supposed to be and I can make the text tiny I am happy :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

I don't care much about formatting as long as indentations and paragraphs are like there supposed to be and I can make the text tiny I am happy :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

You want to make the text tiny, Chris? The reason many of us are using RTF is precisely because Reader's default font size for text files we find too small, and RTF allows us to increase the font size :grin:.

well I got pretty good eyes and I find even it smallest size a hair too big - I would rather have more lines and words (HATE the wide margins) so I would not have to change pages so often :-) right now I have to change pages as often as 25 seconds or so. would like to stretch that out a bit. (few page turns longer battery life and less wear and tear on the buttons as a bonus)

Plus txt is universal and can be "made" into literally anything else down the road and is super duper simple and guarenteed to work with anything :-)

The smaller txt size is a bonus for me :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

To each their own. I wear "progressive lens: (a fancy marketing term for multi-focus tri-focals) so well formed type of a decent size is a must.

The macro should be adaptable to OpenOffice or other word processors. One of the main advantages it offers is the joining of lines in a paragraph that otherwise would produce a series of one regular line and one short line. Adding indents at the start of each paragraph is as simple as changing all "^p" to "^p^t" in the file.

Unfortunately, this topic is too long to go through to see if someone else has already suggested this.

It is possible while reading a book to hit menu, menu, menu, 7, page right, menu, menu, 1 to skip to the next audio track. However, the screen updates on each menu press.

It would be nice if the software could look ahead in the buffer and not refresh the screen until the end of input.


Keith

I think that's a new one, kcarscadden. Welcome to MobileRead, BTW. :nice:

Unfortunately, this topic is too long to go through to see if someone else has already suggested this.

It is possible while reading a book to hit menu, menu, menu, 7, page right, menu, menu, 1 to skip to the next audio track. However, the screen updates on each menu press.

It would be nice if the software could look ahead in the buffer and not refresh the screen until the end of input.


Keith
I second this. Especially when dealing with large files. I have a 40-50 MB .pdf file I'm trying to manipulate into readability on the reader and every time I browse through it if I want to check out a page of actual info instead of the TOC, cover, etc. I have to hit next page 8 times or so before I see actual info and having to wait for it to work its way through processing each page is a PITA.

I don't know if this has been mentioned but I'd certainly like the SD slot on the reader to show up in windows explorer so I could drag and drop to it and use the reader as a memory card reader when its plugged into the computer.

If you hold down the "next page" button for 5 seconds it'll jump ahead 10 pages -- I'm pretty sure that works in PDFs as well -- then you'd only need to back up 2 pages to get to page 8, instead of going forward 8 pages. :)

If you hold down the "next page" button for 5 seconds it'll jump ahead 10 pages -- I'm pretty sure that works in PDFs as well -- then you'd only need to back up 2 pages to get to page 8, instead of going forward 8 pages. :)
Neat! I did not know that. I learned something today! Yay!

Hi all,

As a new Sony Reader owner I was happy to find this web site. Happy to hear I'm not the only one that can't read PDF's well on my reader.

Anyway, I just wanted to comment on a few of the suggestions that were made for the reader software updates. As a developer (not on the Sony reader) perhaps I can provide some insite into a few issues.

First, the clock. Without commenting on the merit of the idea it probably isn't technically possible for a firmware update to implement a clock. The hardware would already have to include a clock chip. I doubt it does, so I would expect you won't see a clock on the current hardware.

Second, on the text input/search issues. While it could probably/possibly be done, it will be very slow. My understanding with the eInk display is that you can not do inplace screen updates. Every time something on the screen changes the entire display must be updated. This is why arrowing from link to link or through the menus is so slow. So, a virtual keyboard with an indicator to move from letter to letter would be very slow.

I do like many of the other suggestions made.

What I would suggest is that a Wiki topic is created so a nice formated list of suggestions could be created and people could add to the list as needed. This is much easier than readding hundreds of messages to see if you are going to repeat a suggestion.

BOb

EDIT: Opps... I see that this already exists:

http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Sony_Reader_Wishlist

SUPPORT FOR AUDIBLE (.aa) files!

I take it that was a suggestion aimed at people with vision problems :grin:.

Did you really have to put it in such huge font?
Anyway, Audible files are DRMed, so don't expect anything there.

Yeah, Audible files are DRMed, but if I'm not mistaken, it was Sony's Clié that first brought Audible into the Palm platform. That being as it may, Audible would have to agree to the notion before the Reader could go about supporting the format. :shrug:

I take it that was a suggestion aimed at people with vision problems :grin:.

lol

and NatCh, the Clie's did support audible, so I don't see what the big f'n deal is about having a device that's entirely designated for reading books to support it as well. bah.

Well they'd likely have to negotiate rights, and then they'd have to have a compatible player for the Reader, and then they'd have to get the software to us, but I think the kicker is probably that they seem to have been rather busy over the last few months. :nice:

If it makes you feel any better, I did mention that to them at the Bloggers' Day (back in September) and they seemed to find the idea intriguing (judging from reactions, anyway). :shrug:

Audible seem to be spreading their "player" far and wide - eg the iPod will play Audible's books, as will Pocket PCs. I'm sure that if the Reader is a commercial success, they will be only too eager to want to support it.

Maybe we should all contact Audible and suggest that they approach Sony on the matter. :grin:

OK, I am pretty sure that you cannot do this with the SW, please correct me if I am wrong.

One of Sony's potential markets is for vision impaired people. It is possible with non-DRM books to edit the default sizes available to the reader. As far as I can tell, this is NOT possible with Connect Store books.

Since many of the older folks that would need this feature would likely buy from the store only (or have a relative set the reader up for them with books), Sony really ought to allow text resize on their DRM books via the connect SW. DRM could be preserved, just the text sizes available to the reader would be larger.

This does not apply to me but I keep thinking about how great this would have been for my mother (now deceased) who had macular degeneration. In fact, if Sony was smart, they would put this feature in place and market the reader through optical professionals

OK, I am pretty sure that you cannot do this with the SW, please correct me if I am wrong.If you mean that it can't be done at the moment, I think you're correct. So here's an opportunity for someone who's found a way to correct both of us. :wink:

I think that's an excellent notion, CCDMan, and it'd deal handily with those pubs who insist on turning in texts with fonts that are so small (as it seems some of them do). It'd also have the advantage of keeping the controls on the Reader itself from getting too complicated trying to deal with it there.

For instance, while I do want the larger print capabilities, I don't want to step through a series 10 or 12 possible font sizes to get back to a smaller one ('cause I'm gonna overshoot sometimes, or just plain decide that the last one was the one I really wanted). For me, 3 available steps is plenty from a "clicking through them" perspective, as long as I have some control of the starting size. Your idea would allow for both considerations very nicely. :nice:

Somewhere on the connect software and I think it's through the help feature.... they ask us about what books, what authors etc we would like to see. Also at the very bottom it had a box for other input.... perhaps mentioning text size their will help. I know I made mention about it, that the books bought the font sizes on large were actually still on the small size.

In fact here is the link directly to the online survey.... I just backtracked in my browser history to find it.

http://connect-metrics.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/connect_metrics.cfg/websurveys/ws?_133=22

Thanks for the link! I just submitted the suggestion. I hope I will not need such a feature anytime soon.

In fact I just got back from the eye doctor and slightly altered my reading glasses to match the slightly greater distance that I hold the reader at compared to paper books

You are welcome. Hope they listen to us. :)

First, the clock...The hardware would already have to include a clock chip. I doubt it does...

...My understanding with the eInk display is that you can not do inplace screen updates...

It does and you can... :)
The first as evidenced by bookmark dates and CPU specs, the second as evidenced by numerous in-place refreshed GUI elements (animated Sync icon, illegal operation icon, volume icon/bars, menu items etc.)

It does and you can... :)
The first as evidenced by bookmark dates and CPU specs, the second as evidenced by numerous in-place refreshed GUI elements (animated Sync icon, illegal operation icon, volume icon/bars, menu items etc.)

I believe it "appears" that they are doing inplace refresh, but that is only because the only thing on the screen that changes is the one item. If that wasn't the case I don't think it would take as long to move a menu item selector as it does to turn a page.

That was/is actually a trick used by Web Developers (prior to AJAX being viable) in which they would only change a "portion" of the page. What really happened was the full page was re-rendered but you didn't notice it because the only change was one word or picture or whatever.

But, this is still my "educated guess" and I am not 100% sure. I've been wrong before.

BOb

Interesting notion, pilotbob. Whatever they're doing, it doesn't have the full flash to black thing going on. But what the implications of that might be .... :shrug:

If there is no flash to black, there is no refresh. It's as simple as that, AFAICT. If you don't believe me, take a look at the status bar when you flip pages - it gets refreshed along with the rest of the screen (and goes through full black as well) and that's a full page refresh.

OTOH, some refreshes seem to not even need a full white-black-white (or grey) cycle. Like the forementioned sync icon, which is grey on black. It would seem that only switching through the extremes of contrast range requires a full recycle/repolarisation.

Anyhow, the point is - if the rest of the image remains unchanged/unaffected/static throughout the refresh, it most definately is a localized refresh.

I'm such a newb that I haven't even received my Reader yet. I checked the wiki, and searched this thread, and I note one HUGE omission...

Mac Support!

You can sort of do it by hand from what I've read -- the Mac will mount the reader and you can create the proper directory layout and move the files yourself -- similar to how I use the my PSP. But the supplied software doesn't support the Mac AFAIK.

Sony should support the Mac equivalent to their PC support. And this should be added to the wiki alongside the Linux support request.

-Pie

Pie--

Completely agree about the Mac support! Purchasing a product for this price should not entail "work arounds". I won't purchase this, even though i really want to, until there is official Mac support.

I will, however, purchase the first real alternative that comes out and supports Macs.

The Connect store is a web based program. It can't be that difficult to make it available for Macs. I wonder what the real story is?

Well it's web based like iTunes is web based, meaning the store part gets its data feed from the internet but the rest of the stuff including the store "shell" is local. I don't know how Sony is with their other products and Mac support, like is their Mac support for the Connect music side? What about other stuff like the minidisk players, MP3 players, etc...?

Traditionally, Sony hasn't been interested in supporting the smaller number of Mac users. Their clie pda's, music players, etc all needed windows.

Some of it is related to DRM, but mostly it just isn't worth it for them to spend the money on extra software and customer support. I don't see apple providing ipod support for Linux users.

Smart bookmark, not based on page numbers. So when I switch between font size settings I won't find that all my bookmark still point to the original page which now has completely different content.

I still want a delete function.

Traditionally, Sony hasn't been interested in supporting the smaller number of Mac users. Their clie pda's, music players, etc all needed windows.

Some of it is related to DRM, but mostly it just isn't worth it for them to spend the money on extra software and customer support. I don't see apple providing ipod support for Linux users.

This is a "two wrongs make a right" argument. Besides, Apple DOES support Windows for iTunes.

And let's be blunt, the Connect Software is a blatant rip-off of the iTunes interface... and yet it's not available on the Mac. Hard not to call that ironic!

Mac Support needs to be on the Wiki.

-Pie

Most of sony software is in that kind if interface. They cover the windows window-frame. How they cover it is sometimes inconsistent but I cannot remember a Sony app that doesnt...
Also, Sony has VAIO. Why would they be interested in MAC?

I guess its just poor marketing prowess like most other Japanese companies... they can sell good hardware... but the software always sucks.

Also, Sony has VAIO. Why would they be interested in MAC?


I think you've nailed it here. The Mac is actually a competitor with the Vaio, so they choose not to support it.

Still wish someone knew why the heck Sony's CEO was on stage at Steve Jobs' keynote last year. Then again, I don't think even HE knew why he was there!

-Pie

To add to the wish list, the ability to add more ebook formats such as LIT format and PDB format. This would help people migrate to the Sony Reader with books they may already own without having to repurchase the books.

Something like "manga reading mode" in picture wievieng



How about CBR/CBZ support?

How about CBR/CBZ support?
No need. All they are are ZIP files with graphics inside Can be made into PDF (formatted for the reader) or LRF or just put on the reader as is once decompressed. No need for the overhead for an unzip.

Native support for CBR/CBZ would be nice though. There is no really good way to automate the conversion to PDF, and besides, I would rather not convert at all. Since these files are just compressed jpegs, it shouldn't be too difficult to display them in a reader-like way. And it would dramatically expand the available library for the reader in one fell swoop.

Native support for CBR/CBZ would be nice though. There is no really good way to automate the conversion to PDF, and besides, I would rather not convert at all. Since these files are just compressed jpegs, it shouldn't be too difficult to display them in a reader-like way. And it would dramatically expand the available library for the reader in one fell swoop.
All you need to is uncompress the ZIP file and make sure the names are in some sort of order and then upload to the reader and view. It's that easy.

To add to the wish list, the ability to add more ebook formats such as LIT format and PDB format. This would help people migrate to the Sony Reader with books they may already own without having to repurchase the books.
Doubtful as this would add additional sources outside Sony for purchase of current material. This in turn would lead to a possible decrease in revenue through the CONNECT store.

Most companies make a small (if any) profit on the base unit and reap the big rewards from the ad-ons and continuing purchases. It is a lot like the razor blade market wherein the original purchase is break even but they earn substantial profits from the on-going blade sales.

Here is a suggestion for an update. How about having one!
If Sony Connect and the Reader were mature polished products I could understand a slow release cycle but, for gods sake, there are so many things that need tweaking that a series of frequent updates would go a long way to raising confidence. How about fixing the battery problem they introduced on the last and only update? How about a title/author editor? How about folders on the memory card? I am enjoying the reader but I cannot wait until there is some real competition out there.
Sony Reader enjoyment 100%. Sony loyalty 0%.

Doubtful as this would add additional sources outside Sony for purchase of current material. This in turn would lead to a possible decrease in revenue through the CONNECT store.

Most companies make a small (if any) profit on the base unit and reap the big rewards from the ad-ons and continuing purchases. It is a lot like the razor blade market wherein the original purchase is break even but they earn substantial profits from the on-going blade sales.

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but it really begs the question: What does Sony want to do with the Reader?

They seem dividided between profit on books vs. profit on the Reader itself.

According to Steve Jobs, the "make money off add-ons" is actually the opposite model for the iPod. As Jobs has stated, the iTunes store exists solely to sell iPods.

Of course, a Reality Distortion Field Detector comes in handy around anything Mr. Jobs says. :)

In all seriousness, taking Mr. Jobs at his word (mostly), it's a good business model. They make a gajillion dollars off iPod sales, and the iTunes store acts as an easy-to-use way to get music onto said iPod. They charge a relatively small sum per song to encourage/keep iPod sales high. And while there is a large market for iPod add-ons, AFAIK Apple only makes one -- that "audiophile" (Reality Distortion Field Detector pegs hard on 11) speaker thing. That's beside adapters and cables of course. That alone says something about their business model.

Sony charges a relative arm and a leg for books on the Connect Store. You save about $1.00 on books over Amazon, vs. iTunes which garners about $7.00 savings per album over Amazon. Looks like Sony is not using the iPod model for sales... and much to their detriment IMHO.

Alternative formats and inexpensive eBooks will encourage sales of the Reader. And that's what Sony needs most right now. After all, if the Reader isn't in users' hands, there's no profit off add-ons.

I personally love the LRF format, now that I have a way to convert text to it. But there's still like 8 other e-Book formats out there, and NO indication as to which will become the defacto standard. If Sony just supported .lit, for example, it would open up tons of additional oppurtunities for content. (Yes, I know you can crack .lit, but the average person doesn't want to need to.) Same for encrypted PDF.

Other formats should top Sony's list of features. They need to sell the Reader, and allowing other formats is the second-best way to do this... since lowering prices on the Connect Store is probably too much to ask. :(

-Pie

I would love to see a "black and white" mode to make the text darker when reading texts that have no images.

Where can I get pylrs 1.0.1? I cannot use pielrs without it. Thanks!

This thread, while great, is now a little confusing :freak:, since it's possible to "homebrew" on the Reader, perhaps two treads are in order one for Sony suggestions and one for (hopefully) the hackers to compile stuff, just an idea...

That's an excellent notion, melechmet. When we started this thread originally, hacking the Reader was still seven months in the future. As you say, now that we can hack it, and have folks doing just that, a thread for requested hacks and probably a second one for posting completed hacks are probably in order ... probably the Developer's Corner (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=115) is the best place for it.

Anyone want to volunteer to start one or both? :grin3: