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Old 12-19-2012, 12:22 PM   #11
Corkobo
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Posts: 107
Karma: 1053398
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Scotland
Device: Kobo Glo, Nook Touch
Hmmm, while I will readily agree with some of the items in your "don't want this" list (i.e. games, browsers) I will have to disagree with the others.

Notes, annotations and dictionaries are not personally important to me but I can see how they could be very valuable for people who read a lot of non fiction and respectively for people who read books in a foreign language.
When it comes to page numbers, chapter support, font support and especially font size support, these are important to me.
So I'm all for asking the manufacturers to improve things.

I'm not sure that we, the public, are so guilty as putting pressure on the manufacturers as you seem to suggest. They do what they do because (and when) they can and because (and when) they think it will give them a competitive advantage.

They know (for the most part) what they are doing. The (current) big three have dropped MP3 support as they probably discovered it was not a key feature. However, they implemented the integrated light (in the Glow, Glo and Paperwhite) because their research probably indicated it was a key feature, desired by many and relatively cheap to do. I always wanted something like this (but never asked, I mean how do you ask?) so when it appeared I bought a new e-reader.

It think that the main way for us (the public) to influence the manufactures is to vote with our wallets. As long as the device that sells is the one with the best balance between useful features, reliability and cost the manufactures will continue to focus on these things.
I think that us, here, in this Forum (and maybe other Forums) posting about the changes and additions we would like to have in our e-readers does not put pressure on the manufactures. These posts are here if they care to read them and get a free (though unmanaged) focus group research. If they don't care, they don't read them.

The e-book readers evolved and improved a lot in just 4-5 years (I'm on my 3rd model). If "picky" customers had something to do with this then I'm all for it.

And I'm not sure that "spoiled brat" is the correct way to describe someone who pays money for a product and wants that product to get better in a future version.

Not everyone is the same and we do not all have the same requirements but, as for me, progress and new features are always a good thing.
And after all, one always has the choice of sticking with the old version of the device.

Long live progress!
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