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Wanapitei · 07-18-2011, 02:20 PM

Overall I'm pleased with Kobo Touch and do not regret its purchase. But there are unaddressed problems.

1. The touch algorithm is wonky, inefficient. Far too often there is no response, requires repeated and/or prolonged touching. Or shut down, a relaunch and try a second time. I suspect the code is not efficient in taking out the garbage, that is, the code is chasing itself in an infinite loop and thus isn't paying any attention to a new touch. Examples include the Connect button when a computer is detected. Sometimes it will respond, sometimes not. The edit Highlights button. The delete highlights button. This wonkiness of touch takes some getting used to and may discourage adoption of Kobo Touch.

2. When a string of text has been highlighted there are signs the code hard wires the location's page number rather than its absolute position within the current chapter. If the user has reduced the point size of the type so as to highlight a continuous passage, then resumes a more readable point size, then Kobo will not satisfactorily find the passage, presenting a page where the highlighted text does not appear. This is quite consistent.

3. The tool for selecting text for highlighting is troublesome. There are two handles, one as the beginning and another at the end. The user is now required to select a handle and extend or reduce the selection. Except, much of the time the handles won't select. The code seems to be off on some infinite loop and not paying attention. Plus there's another related problem to these selection handles. They're smaller than a finger pressed on the screen and thus impossible to detect whether the handle has been activated, ready for dragging.

4. Documentation is scanty and dumbed down, incomplete. There are many very necessary tools for electronic reading in Kobo, but they are described in marketing-language generalities. There a phone service available to talk to a live person, but they themselves have barely scratched Kobo's surface. There's also help by eMail. While that service appears to be well structured, there's been a lack of follow through on issues.

All of which might suggest avoiding purchase of Kobo Touch, but not so fast. In the four weeks I've owned my Kobo Touch, the operating system has been automatically upgraded twice to new versions adding useful features and solving bugs. Likewise the matching Kobo application that runs on my Mac has been upgraded three times. Kobo is a moving target, really in public beta rather than a polished and fully tested tool. Kobo is considerably lighter and easier to hold for prolonged reading than either of the two iPads in circulation. Whether I'm still reading with Kobo next year depends on whether Kobo discovers the importance of excellence in the details of their software and docs.

07-18-2011, 02:20 PM	#1
Wanapitei Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2011 Device: none	Kobo Touch feedback Overall I'm pleased with Kobo Touch and do not regret its purchase. But there are unaddressed problems. 1. The touch algorithm is wonky, inefficient. Far too often there is no response, requires repeated and/or prolonged touching. Or shut down, a relaunch and try a second time. I suspect the code is not efficient in taking out the garbage, that is, the code is chasing itself in an infinite loop and thus isn't paying any attention to a new touch. Examples include the Connect button when a computer is detected. Sometimes it will respond, sometimes not. The edit Highlights button. The delete highlights button. This wonkiness of touch takes some getting used to and may discourage adoption of Kobo Touch. 2. When a string of text has been highlighted there are signs the code hard wires the location's page number rather than its absolute position within the current chapter. If the user has reduced the point size of the type so as to highlight a continuous passage, then resumes a more readable point size, then Kobo will not satisfactorily find the passage, presenting a page where the highlighted text does not appear. This is quite consistent. 3. The tool for selecting text for highlighting is troublesome. There are two handles, one as the beginning and another at the end. The user is now required to select a handle and extend or reduce the selection. Except, much of the time the handles won't select. The code seems to be off on some infinite loop and not paying attention. Plus there's another related problem to these selection handles. They're smaller than a finger pressed on the screen and thus impossible to detect whether the handle has been activated, ready for dragging. 4. Documentation is scanty and dumbed down, incomplete. There are many very necessary tools for electronic reading in Kobo, but they are described in marketing-language generalities. There a phone service available to talk to a live person, but they themselves have barely scratched Kobo's surface. There's also help by eMail. While that service appears to be well structured, there's been a lack of follow through on issues. All of which might suggest avoiding purchase of Kobo Touch, but not so fast. In the four weeks I've owned my Kobo Touch, the operating system has been automatically upgraded twice to new versions adding useful features and solving bugs. Likewise the matching Kobo application that runs on my Mac has been upgraded three times. Kobo is a moving target, really in public beta rather than a polished and fully tested tool. Kobo is considerably lighter and easier to hold for prolonged reading than either of the two iPads in circulation. Whether I'm still reading with Kobo next year depends on whether Kobo discovers the importance of excellence in the details of their software and docs.