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The thing is, this is not a particularly new device. The Kobo Reader is a Netronix EB600 with some modifications (i.e. Bluetooth). Kobo chose to make Firmware updates a Byzantine process involving their own proprietary desktop app. They chose to make the battery sealed in so that it cannot be removed (this would have been a great help in preserving the battery life of my device in its current semi-bricked state). They are chosing to go the rather odd route of sending software via snail-mail. They could just as easily post a binary and instructions with the option of a having mailed to you if you are not comfortable. I've owned many eReaders (Pocketbook, Sony, Kindle, Nook, Cybook) and none of them have had a firmware update process this odd. Sometimes the updated firmware didn't work properly or had bugs, but I had the option of downgrading to the previous version. I think, as time goes on, we should have less tolerance for mistakes and hold higher expectations. The ebook business is rapidly maturing now; we're not back in 2006. The only company that distributes firmware upgrades via a Desktop client is Sony. Do you know what the number one complaint about the Sony Readers (besides the touchscreen) is? The ultra-suckiness of the desktop software. Why one earth Kobo chooses to emulate Sony and not Amazon, B and N, or Pocketbook is beyond me.
Luqman
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