Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisI
I've seen wish lists for new features in the Reader but let's face it, if it doesn't help Sony make more money you are going to have a long wait.
Since the money is in the books, not the hardware, my question is:
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2. I would like a way to report typos, and download an updated version of any book that I have purchased.
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It wouldn't be long before Sony could advertise that they have the most accurately printed books in the industry.
Any other ideas?
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Concerning misprints -- my bet is that Sony gets the files from the publishers, they don't create them in-house, but that is only a guess. Even if they are created in-house, they begin as electronic files submitted from the publishers. They are the same files which are sent to the printer, and I see plenty of misprints in various publishers' paper-books. There is no recourse, nor any credit offered by the traditional publishers, so I'm not sure how or why Sony would be able to change that practice.
I once bought a paper-book from a bookstore and it was missing 16 pages. Every copy on the shelf was missing the same pages. I wrote to the publisher, pointing out just where the missing pages were, and they sent me a new copy of the book. It, too, was missing the pages. I wrote back asking them to photocopy from the manuscript the missing pages so that I could read them. I got back a polite "Thank you for your interest" letter and never have been able to read those missing pages.
I don't think fixing misprints is going to help Sony earn any more money, and by your way of thinking, it will also cost them money, since you want some sort of credit for reporting them.
As for the "books in series" idea -- I'd love it if DVD stores would do the same thing. I buy movies when the price is good and when I feel I want to own them, only to find a "Director's Cut Deluxe Edition with everything ever created related to the movie crammed onto 5 DVDs including a thank-you note from the star's mother" edition, or they are bundled into single-box "All The Indiana Jones Movies (so far)" edition. I sure wish I could trade in my earlier editions and buy the new complete editions, but they have no desire for the earlier editions to come back. So I can buy the newer more complete editions and give the old ones to friends or stick with the original releases.
You know the old saying, "Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which fills up first.''
The things that Sony could do which would make me buy more books from them are:
1) lower ALL their prices -- there' s no reason on this earth why computer books in ebook format have to reflect their enormous paper-version prices;
2) get more publishers and authors to release their books in Sony format at reasonable prices.