Quote:
Originally Posted by taming
The other rom thing is for rooted devices. That help will not be forthcoming from Kobo 
Frankly, I am beginning to understand why Nook is locked down when you purchase it. The Nook folks are not responsible for anything other than what they choose to include. Rooting voids the warranty and then folks are on their own.
Not excusing problems Kobo should have fixed prior to launch, by any means, but they are having to support devices that have been modified and Nooks does not. I expect that tech support will be advising people to do factory resets to avoid that kind of thing--sort of like some computer tech folks do when they seem to automatically re-install Windows at the drop of a hat. |
Modifying the software on your e-ink Kobo would void the warranty, too. However, the developers put up a github page and offered help in aftermarket modification with source code and documentation. They're actually awesome for the level of dedication to helping you hack Kobo devices, with staff that have emailed me back promptly on questions I have about their source code. This is clearly above and beyond.
According to Kobo there are already plans to do the same for the Vox. Obviously it's just recently launched, so I'm not worried about it not being up yet, but based on previous experience it'll be up soon and it'll let nerds like me do awesome things for nerds like you.
On the topic of Kobo vs. Nook, they are no different in terms of liability for support. The only difference is the fact that the Vox is far more open for those who wish to take advantage of that.
In terms the bugs that the Kobo has - and must give support for - those are issues that Kobo can/will fix and it isn't being caused by 3rd-party apps. Rooting is outside of that and of course that'll void the warranty, but installing 3rd-party apps should not be something to be afraid of. If you have an issue with a 3rd-party app, that 3rd party can [maybe] help.
Imagine if you took your laptop into a shop and the clerk there said, "Sorry, we can't help you, you've installed something on here we don't support." Or if your harddrive died and when you tried to get it replaced under warranty they said "Oh, you had Linux installed on there? Sorry, we don't support Linux." On the flip side of that, imagine calling Microsoft to tell them that Pidgin keeps crashing. They'd hang up on you.
I don't think that companies like B&N and Amazon lock down their devices to avoid having to support 3rd-party content, they do it to prevent people from doing anything they want on the device. Amazon doesn't want you to install the Kobo App on their device, Kobo is fine with you installing the Kindle app on theirs.
(Note: Okay, probably not fine with it. But they allow it because they're not quite so anti-competitive. Read; they aint scared!)