Sony Reader questions answered by Sony Reader Team

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Fr. Robert Dye

I had really hoped that Sony would consider Mac users in its marketing and design, but it looks like we are excluded again.

Did you intend to buy books from Sony's Connect Store?

Because if not, you don't lose much by being on a Mac. The only thing the (non-Macpatible) software does for you is allow connection to Sony's Connect Store. It also may speed up rendering of your own texts if you run them through it, but the Sony Reader can handle several common file types natively without using the Connect Software at all. If you just want to read texts from other (non-Sony) sources, you should be fine. You can xfer them on SD or via the USB connection.

There have also been rumors that Sony *may* be considering portalling the Connect Software to run on MacPuters. I wouldn't recommend basing a decision on that, however.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Fr. Robert Dye

I suppose eventually, I will have to surrender and buy a Windows machine. I think I'd rather quit using a computer altogether than do that, but I will have to have a computer for my work, just as I had to break down and get a cell phone.

Oh, well.

Never surrender cause the devil is always around the corner to catch you when you're down

Actually you are caught in a longstanding feud between Apple and Sony.

Sony as the longtime inventor of the walkman was the music leader .And when Apple stole the ball away, not being able to get it back, It has desperately been trying for a good while to find an alternate "aftersale" market. Hence the old yet uncrowned e-book market.

NatCh has pertinently pointed out that there is always a way around a software "lock". Believe him. Writing to mobileread was your best move. We are many Mac users around here, by all means keep your Mac and continue enjoying it.
I would suggest adding a used PC to your repertoire, because it will multiply the available software possibilities you can use.
Diversity is the spice of life

[Kosst Amojan]

I picked up an old iMac last year for about $25, I've used it maybe twice but it's good to have around

[Xenophon]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Never surrender cause the devil is always around the corner to catch you when you're down

Actually you are caught in a longstanding feud between Apple and Sony.

Sony as the longtime inventor of the walkman was the music leader .And when Apple stole the ball away, not being able to get it back, It has desperately been trying for a good while to find an alternate "aftersale" market. Hence the old yet uncrowned e-book market.

NatCh has pertinently pointed out that there is always a way around a software "lock". Believe him. Writing to mobileread was your best move. We are many Mac users around here, by all means keep your Mac and continue enjoying it.
I would suggest adding a used PC to your repertoire, because it will multiply the available software possibilities you can use.
Diversity is the spice of life

More generally, I suggest that (at some point in the future) you move up to an Intel-based Mac. That way, if -- heaven forbid -- you absolutely positively must have a windows box, you can simply run Windows under Parallels Workstation or some equivalent product without abandoning your Mac. And with the Mac market share rising, you may not find it necessary to do even that.

Xenophon
(posting from my G4 Powerbook)

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

...with the Mac market share rising....

So, what is the Mac market share up to these days? It's been a while since I saw any numbers on it.

[rmeister0]

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

rmeister0,
Economics certainly can/will make sense, but may take some time. Consider newspapers whose lifespan is 1-5 days! The cost of paper and printing is far greater than electronic delivery to a reader, so at some point newspapers will offer significant discount for e-delivery to a reader. Books individually may be cheap, but at least half of them are thrown away and/or collect dust in the basement. There is also the hassle of storing them, etc. Depending on the number and type of books one consumes, svaing from e-delivery can add up. Once again, publishers will eventually have to pass on a lot of the savings onto consumers (from not having to print, distribute, etc.) which may not be happening right now. So it may take time.

But that newspaper costs an end-user fifty cents to a buck, and not everybody keeps big stacks of paperbacks in their basement. In addition, bandwidth, server infrastructure, and the staff to keep all these things working cost money too, so there really aren't cost savings to electronic distribution until volume hits a certain tipping point. What that point is, I don't know, but I don't think we'll ever reach it until we have the MP3 equivilant of electronic text. (We *should* have that already, either in html or pdf, but neither seems to have hit that critical mass yet.)

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

Keep in mind that there is also tangible benefit (that has certain $ value) of having quick and easy access to a library without computers and networks. You just cannot carry around many reference volumes in printed form, but you can carry them in a reader. For some/many professions that capability alone can be worth hundreds of dollars.

I agree that this is major, and there can be big wins in a lot of education markets. But except for college students (who can be forced to shoulder the costs themselves) education markets are badly cash-strapped. My comments were mainly directed to "pleasure reading" consumers, which is where the mass market (rather than specific, niche or vertial markets) is.

I use O'Reilly's Safari system for books I want to be able to access from time to time for technical reference without having to buy them, but it would be great to be able to access them when I don't have internet access. But I don't know if that ability is worth $350 or $700 in addition to the $20 a month I pay for that service.

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

I don't mind an "end-user friendly DRM" that enables Sony and others to make money so long as non-DRM formats are also supported. Also would be nice to have a "backup to local computer hard disk" option as I don't want to depend on any remote store 100%.

I think that would really be key. One of the things that made iPods popular was the ability to repurpose music you already owned, and ebook manufacturers seem to not understand that. The Gemstar fiasco is still prominent in the early adopter's minds, I think.

Originally Posted by bob_ninja

Lack of HTML support is unfortunate but I hope will be fixed in the future.

I really hope so. The fact that it doesn't, frankly, astounds me.

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by rmeister0

One of the things that made iPods popular was the ability to repurpose music you already owned, and ebook manufacturers seem to not understand that. The Gemstar fiasco is still prominent in the early adopter's minds, I think.

I don't think this is true of the current crop of e-ink devices, they all three allow non-proprietary file types (RFT/TXT/PDF). Or am I missing what you're trying to say?

[yvanleterrible]

There is a nuance NatCh. Of the three only TXT is non proprietary.

Sony said that RTF is available only if the Connect software detects Word when you install. I guess it will check for the several Pdf creating applications also, the rights are Adobe's and licensed .

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Sony said that RTF is available only if the Connect software detects Word when you install. I guess it will check for the several Pdf creating applications also, the rights are Adobe's and licensed .

I don't think that's correct, yvanleterrible, if you have a citation for where you saw it I'd be real inerested in seeing though.

I'm not trying to argue, but the indications I have are very clear that you will be able to put RTF, TXT or PDF files on a memory card, insert it into the slot and open those files. I don't see how it could check your system for anything in that scenario.

In fact, you don't even have to install the Connect Software to use the Sony Reader.

Maybe you're thinking of this?

------------ Quoted from the Sony website --------------

Media Formats Supported
Unsecured Text - BBeB Book,Adobe® PDF, TXT, RTF, & Microsoft® Word (Conversion to the Reader-requires Word installed on your PC)
Secured Text - BBeB Book
Unsecured Audio - MP3192 and ACC
Image - JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP

----------------------------------------------------------

MacroHard Word is required for the Connect Software to automatically convert MS Word files to RTF for transfer to the Reader, but I think that's just an indication that the Connect Software won't handle the conversion internally, but rather leans on M$Word for that. Of course, there are a number of non-M$ apps that will let you do it manually.

The PDF thing makes even less sense -- I think the Sony PDF reader is supposed to be by Adobe, so you already have a licensed Adobe PDF reader there (I'm assuming you meant to say it looked for PDF reading software, rather than creating). Besides, Adobe has become what it is by not being restrictive about letting people read files in their format, why would they 180 that now? It just doesn't hold water for me.

[yvanleterrible]

Go back to the begining of this thread.
This is what Iwas referring to...

------------------------------------
We recommend using the CONNECT™ Reader Software to import and transfer files to the Reader, as it will enable faster page turns and re-sizing on the Reader itself. We have also included the ability to import Microsoft Word files to the device. The CONNECT Reader will convert the Word document to RTF during the import process as long as the user has Microsoft® Word on the PC (this happens behind the scenes).

-------------------------------------------------

I know there is a workaround, there always is. All I meant is that RTF and PDF are proprietary. When they say things happen "behind the scenes", they've been snooping around. How many times while you install software do you see "Please be patient while(such and such software) looks for software installed on your computer"

You can't let yourself be blind to this fact; they know every bit of software that's installed on your machine, specially if you have a permanent connection to the web.
They'll never admit to it because they don't have the right to do so. It would incriminate them on "breach of privacy". This might feel paranoïd but big money is.

[NatCh]

Ah, now I see what you're talking about -- the way I read that is "if you have MS Word, and you use the Connect Software to put files on your PRS-500, the Connect Software can use MS Word to convert Word files to RTF before loading them onto the Reader, and this will be transparent to the user. But if you don't have MS Word, you'll have to convert your Word files to RTF yourself."

That interpretation fits with the other indications I've seen on the subject, and with question number one on the list (from right before the part you referenced):

Q) What File formats are supported natively and can be put directly on a Memory Stick or SD memory card?
A) With the Sony Reader you can take a file from your PC to an SD or Memory Stick™ media card and read on the Sony Reader the following file types:

1. TXT
2. RTF
3. PDF (Unencrypted)
4. BBeB (Encrypted and Unencrypted)
5. JPEG
6. GIF
7. BMP
8. PNG
9. MP3 (Unencrypted)
10. AAC (Unencrypted)



The recommendation that you use the Connect software to load files has to do with taking advantage of some sort of pre-rendering function, not with checking up on you to see if you have a right to have a given file type.


That being said, I do get what youre saying, and agree with you completely that the Connect Software must look to see if you have MSWord -- otherwise it wouldn't know whether or not you had Word available as a resource for it to use to convert Word files to RTF.

Does it also take a full system inventory of all the software you have installed (and maybe report it back to a darkened office somewhere in Tokyo)? It could, and we very well might have a hard time even noticing if it did.

On the other hand, I'm hoping that they learned something from the "root-kit debacle" -- Sony is under U.S. Federal investigation for that, they're facing a number of civil suits, they pulled the offending CD's and it was the Entertainment division that did it in the first place (the divisions are, by all accounts, pretty insular). I think it'd be too stupid for even a big corp like Sony to (exactly) repeat that error. They could always try something else, of course.

I'm not claiming to know what they will or won't do, you understand, just sharing my reasoning on the matter, so salt to taste.

Remember, I have been accused of being an optomist.

[yvanleterrible]

I like optimism too, that is the best tool we have to fight the violent options

I have had a bad experience with a software company and I was at fault, and wish to never renew the experience. Nowadays software on your computer can communicate with the "head center". Take for instance(in a good way) virus software, cookies, and at the opposite; spammers, spyware and others. It's become very hard to distinguish the good from the bad.

Many companies do a very good job of controlling piracy in such a subtle way that it betrays knowlege, intimate knowledge let's say...

Away with that c..p.

So! when's that reader hitting the shores ?
Ain't here yet ? You said thanksgiving ?

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

So! when's that reader hitting the shores ?
Ain't here yet ? You said thanksgiving ?

Ain't Thanksgiving yet ... in the U.S. anyway.

Seriously, though, PCMag said October, for all I can tell, they're probably closer to right than wrong. Well, unless you accept CCDMan's interpretation of when the "holidays" are, of course.

What? Did you want to start a pool or something? I suppose we could do it for bragging rights.

[yvanleterrible]

I don't deal with pools anymore.

I always manage to drown in them. and it's not in cash !

The first date Sony set was somewhere around my birthday. I thought I'd get a cool gift. I did... a snowblower !

[rmeister0]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I don't think this is true of the current crop of e-ink devices, they all three allow non-proprietary file types (RFT/TXT/PDF). Or am I missing what you're trying to say?

Well, I think I'm trying to say several things at once, and it is getting muddy.

The iLiad supports HTML and PDF, but neither in a what I would call a superb way. As for the Sony device, we won't really know until we have them in people's hands; I'm unwilling to take anything Sony says at face value until I can test it for myself.

Irex clearly is not getting into the content business, but just about every one of Sony's endeavors in the past 10 years has been all about leveraging content to own the operating platform. Nevermind that said strategy has been hurting them pretty badly, I still see no real evidence that that mindset is changing. (The current issue of Wired has an interesting article on this very thing, discussing the poor fortunes of the PS3 as a case in point.)

Most consumers had piles of CDs lying around they could rip onto their mp3 players; but converting printed text is a lot more difficult. So while the ability to repurpose existing content is critical, by itself it will not make the device a mass market product, if by mass market we mean the millions and millions that Sony's CEO says he wants.

I think the real potential for the next five years or so is going to be vertical markets. Rolling this out to end consumers as a recreational reading device will probably be the last application of eInk.

So to sum up: Electronic book devices cannot be closed ecosystems otherwise early adopters won't take to them; there has to be a network of content providers with enough material to entice consumers; the cost of entry has to come down a lot to become mass market; the cost of content will have to be lower than the paper editions, particularly if heavy DRM usage turns purchases into rentals; and manufacturers and publishers will have to show great patience because this is a market that will take a lot of time and effort to develop.

Unfortunately, I am only seeing baby steps on the first two points and very little on the rest.