Sony thinks quality will win out (for them)

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by porkupan

I am really trying, but I still cannot see how is Amazon-like experience on Sony PRS-900 so much less convenient for you than the Amazon-like experience on your Kindle or iPad?

You don't hafta agree with my opinion, lol. I bought a Sony and returned it after trying it out, along with the Sony software and store. I found it a PIA.

I now have enough credit card points to get a free Sony if I want. No thanks. I saw that the Kindle 2 international was offered on my cc rewards at 10,000 points higher than the highest model Sony. I might actually get the free Kindle if they upgrade to the new version, so I can give it as a gift. I wouldn't inflict a Sony on anyone I liked enough to give a gift to.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

unless they have something in the works to released soon I am thinking it may be a little too late for Sony - If they do it better knock everyones socks off

Imagine a 900 with say a touch screen that does not interfere with the screen, better battery life, more internal ram, an SD slot, wifi & 3G, and a web browser for for $200. Now that would out do Amazon big time.

Actually, lets make it an 8" screen as well.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

it may be a little too late for Sony

You davidspitzer keep repeating this mantra over and over and over. Sony loses, Amazon wins. How are you so sure of it, got a crystal ball? Do you know something that no one else knows? Let's see what happens with Sony Readers in the fall, shall we?

There is a big world out there, and there is room in this world for kindles, sony readers, nooks and for the others too. So your predictions may yet prove to be totally false.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Imagine a 900 with say a touch screen that does not interfere with the screen, better battery life, more internal ram, an SD slot, wifi & 3G, and a web browser for for $200. Now that would out do Amazon big time.

Actually, lets make it an 8" screen as well.

Except I doubt Amazon's sitting still.

[porkupan]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

I found it a PIA. <..> I wouldn't inflict a Sony on anyone I liked enough to give a gift to.

Let's just say that my experience with the Sony is the total opposite of yours. I don't hate Amazon or any others, but I find Sony to be a better product for me. And I recommend it to people every chance I get.

I don't want to get into the reader holy war here.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by porkupan

Let's just say that my experience with the Sony is the total opposite of yours. I don't hate Amazon or any others, but I find Sony to be a better product for me. And I recommend it to people every chance I get.

I don't want to get into the reader holy war here.

No holy war. You asked and I replied. I think it's great that you like your device. Reading the way you like is the only thing that matters.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by mikij

Concerning the Sony store, it is not a disaster, but is quite bad (the choice of eboks is poor).

I think that in considering the Sony store, you have to include the Sony Library software and ADE. When you put those three things together, it's Major Klutz. The system seems designed to *prevent* one from using it. (And that's not even taking into account that it freezes every time I try to connect my 505 to it, while it readily accepts my 300.)

[John F]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Imagine a 900 with say a touch screen that does not interfere with the screen, better battery life, more internal ram, an SD slot, wifi & 3G, and a web browser for for $200. Now that would out do Amazon big time.

Actually, lets make it an 8" screen as well.

I'm with you, just make sure it is a 3:4 screen. And the touch screen you can just tap to turn pages.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by mikij

I fill my reader up once a month (put all the titles I think i"ll read a given month), then forget my reader's connection to computer, unless I need to charge the battery. How often do you download ebooks to your reader (not to your PC)?

I download something - a book or samples - to my iphone/ipad two or three times a week. I am usually reading a book which is sync'd between the two.

As I read this thread, I think I see two different reading styles. One style treats the EBR as a bookshelf, while the other treats it as a bookstore.

The bookshelf people are ones who plan their reading, it seems. So they can do as you do, by loading up the bookshelf with books that will be read in due course.

The bookstore people (I count myself as one) don't really know what book they are going to read next. They might have a pile of books by the bed, but the next book is just likely to be bought that day as extracted from the pile.

So maybe bookshelf people don't need wireless connectivity, while bookstore people do...

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by davidspitzer

really blow the stewardesses mind and say your ereader is off you are just reading the bistable remnants on the screen and that you will turn it back on after take off to turn the page

Nah, usually I pack a pbook for these occasions. It's just annoying that the airlines have a Dope Rule* about this. There is a smidgeon of anecdotal evidence that just maybe cell phone operations interfere somehow with the electronics involved with taking off or landing an airplane. So the airlines ban the use of ALL electronics, whether or not connected or connectable to a network. They do this because they don't seem to be able to actually figure out whether cell phones interfere, and they are unable to craft a rule that says "don't use your cellphone."

But there's no point, not to mention no percentage, in hassling the stewardess about it.

===================
*A Dope Rule is a rule that the employee has no discretion about enforcing, even when there's a perfectly reasonable exception staring him in the face. This is because his employer thinks he's a dope.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by Harmon

I download something - a book or samples - to my iphone/ipad two or three times a week. I am usually reading a book which is sync'd between the two.

As I read this thread, I think I see two different reading styles. One style treats the EBR as a bookshelf, while the other treats it as a bookstore.

The bookshelf people are ones who plan their reading, it seems. So they can do as you do, by loading up the bookshelf with books that will be read in due course.

The bookstore people (I count myself as one) don't really know what book they are going to read next. They might have a pile of books by the bed, but the next book is just likely to be bought that day as extracted from the pile.

So maybe bookshelf people don't need wireless connectivity, while bookstore people do...

Yup. I read whatever I want, according to mood. That's a big selling point of e-readers for me.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by porkupan

I am really trying, but I still cannot see how is Amazon-like experience on Sony PRS-900 so much less convenient for you than the Amazon-like experience on your Kindle or iPad?

There *is* no Amazon-like experience on the Sony. That's the problem.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by Harmon

There *is* no Amazon-like experience on the Sony. That's the problem.

So I don't have a Sony. What's the process for purchasing books and where is it falling apart? I'm just curious.

[vxf]

SONY has always been a hardware company. It shows.
But the good thing with the reader is that you are not forced to deal with their software - with the only exception of annotations, in case you want to view those on your PC.

Yet, I have to agree - they can't claim top quality when the software is so poor. The reader firmware is lacking as well, after all, not just the PC interface.

Same thing for the store. You don't have to use it - there are plenty of other options. But that is clearly a weakness.

I like the PRS900, don't get me wrong. But I have specific needs - free hand annotations are a must for me, so I have limited options. Yet, I realize that is not a sine qua non for a great number of users - and I am fearful regarding SONY's future in this market.

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Alisa

So I don't have a Sony. What's the process for purchasing books and where is it falling apart? I'm just curious.

First, you have to download a dedicated program called Sony Library. This program may or may not play well with your computer or EBR (ebook reader device.) Then you have to download another program from Adobe, called ADE, which in some fashion interacts with Library to enable your EBR to use the DRM on the Sony ebooks. You have to "authorize" your EBR to interact with the Library & Sony Store. (This seems to involve making blood sacrifices to the gods, and turning over your firstborn to the Wicked Witch of the West.)

The only way you can use the Sony Store to buy books is through the Sony Library program. Any book you buy in the Store is stored in the Library program, using a primitive heirarchial structure. (I actually use Calibre to organize my ebooks library, on my computer and on my Sonys.)

So basically, Sony requires you to run two programs in order to even get into their store to buy books, and the programs are - in my experience - kind of dicey. (I have two Sony EBRs, and when I try to connect one of them, the Library program freezes. In the past, it has also messed up the EBR (my 505) to the point where I had to do things like reinstall firmware. The other EBR (my 300) connects & everything works 90 percent of the time.)

As for purchasing once you are in the Store, I haven't done it for months, so I can't give you a detailed explanation. I can only say that my experience quickly led me to the conclusion that I was only buying a book from the Store if I had no other option, and I generally have other options.

Finally, you have to go through this process of acquiring the ADE and Library programs for each and every computer you want to use to buy a book from the Sony Store. Whereas on Amazon, I can buy a book from any computer or ipad or iphone & send it directly to a Kindle, iphone or ipad.

(I am inclined to believe that part of my problem with Library and my 505 lies in the fact that I first authorized the 505 on a different computer, and now the Library program doesn't recognize the flavor of ADE authorization I have. Or something...)