Protest now!

[The Terminator]

I've changed my opinion, if someone could delete this thread please.

[Nate the great]

What goodies are in the Cool-er firmware?

[G0AT]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Anyone who wants to join send an E-mail to help@kobobooks.com . Who else wants a good update for the Kobo 1? Probably everyone. When I've asked they just say hardware limits...B.S. The Kobo can run the Cool-er firmware which has all the goodies in it, So join me in a mail in protest, send your complaints to them. Amazon still had updates for the Kindle 1, and brought it up to full capacity, why don't they do this with the Kobo 1? If they don't, I'm not sure I'd buy a new Kobo.

Being forgotten as soon as the newest model comes out is really annoying.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, when you buy a product, you have to expect it to be forever as it is at that moment in time. Firmware updates and improvements can not be expected, but are very nice when a company takes the time to implement them. Kobo has been very good at improving their products post-release, but you are highlighting the one problem with that approach: expectation. Once they started doing these updates, everyone expects them to fix every minor gripe they have with every product to be released, and that is simply not realistic.

That being said, I would not be surprised to see an update to the KO in the future.

[The Terminator]

I expect the best possible service out of my device. If kobo does this in the future I will not buy from them again, the blow off of "Hardware limitations" is a lie, period. ( I'm not blaming this on taming just so you know, I won't shoot the messenger ) I WILL switch to KINDLE if they don't fix this.

[taming]

My sense is that the deal is that they have one development team and that they will almost always be assigned to working on the newer hardware, rather than adapting/rejigging for the older stuff. I know that the DX did not get an update and the older Sonys languish. Could Kobo 1 be more advanced than it is? I am sure it could be. Is it reasonable for a relatively small company to use their developers to improve what is for them a legacy device, well, maybe not if they want to stay in business and have cutting edge products.

I can see (though I have no insider info) that they may at some point improve the Kobo WiFi--which some folks here have said will continue to be in production--but the Kobo-1, that seems less likely.

It makes sense to me, but then again, I have a growing pile of cell phones sitting in a drawer someplace, too.

PS: I didn't feel blamed, LOL. It was Kobo staff who said they had pretty much reached the limit of what they could do with Kobo 1.

[SensualPoet]

I'm still quite happy with the Original Kobo and, while the Kobo Touch is a far more capable device, I feel that I got (and continue to receive) the value I believed I was buying with Original Kobo. It's charm is in being very, very basic. It plays back Kobobooks; it allows me to read library books; it doesn't get in the way of my reading with lots of frills.

Like taming, I have to admit I expect a bit more in terms of "keeping pace" with the Kobo Wifi ... but I am much more interested in the Kobo Touch being refined and then let's see what can be retrofitted that still makes the KW better without getting in the way. For me, that means Reading Life can take a pass but it would be nice to have the dictionary improvements.

As much as I really like the improvements of the Kindle 3, I am not the least miffed that the Kindle 2 can't do all the new tricks. It's a great backup reader, giving me full access to my Kindle library. That's enough for me ... same with Kobo.

[baronrus]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

I expect the best possible service out of my device. If kobo does this in the future I will not buy from them again, the blow off of "Hardware limitations" is a lie, period. ( I'm not blaming this on taming just so you know, I won't shoot the messenger ) I WILL switch to KINDLE if they don't fix this.

[[/I]

If you switch to kindle you will be in the same boat when they release a new device. I have heard complaints that Kindle has not been as active at releasing updates as its customers would want.

i would think that you are probably out of luck with KO updates. Personally I am just as glad aht the team is focusing on the KT because they are doing a great job of making it a first class and perhaps leading ereader.

[jackastor]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

I expect the best possible service out of my device. If kobo does this in the future I will not buy from them again, the blow off of "Hardware limitations" is a lie, period. ( I'm not blaming this on taming just so you know, I won't shoot the messenger ) I WILL switch to KINDLE if they don't fix this.

Ok your entitled to jump ship if you so wish it. Personally maybe some battles are best left alone. Then again sometimes I just dont get it.

Regardless good luck what ever way you go. Kindle Kobo Ipad Tablet or even good old fashioned paper readers, which ever one you decide, its really personal choice. As for me I am sticking to my kobo, for me thats the best possible choice for me.

good luck

jack

[winsomnia]

I don't blame the company for concentrating their efforts on their latest product. It makes the most sense. But I would be incredibly put off if I found out they have already given up on the Kobo Wi-fi (which they are still supporting, AFAIK). I really don't know if I want a device with a touch screen, so my next device may be the K-Wifi.

Whatever. I'm still loving the hell out of my original Kobo. When it eventually dies, I will do my research, and then buy whatever device is right for me. As a company, Kobo has given me, more or less, what I expected.

[p_a_smith]

Originally Posted by winsomnia

But I would be incredibly put off if I found out they have already given up on the Kobo Wi-fi (which they are still supporting, AFAIK). I really don't know if I want a device with a touch screen, so my next device may be the K-Wifi.

I'm not put out that my Kobo-1's last update was December 2010. The updates we have recieved make it do more than when I first purchased the unit - although to be balanced some of the updates simply brought it up to what was promised in the advertising- i.e. books and magazines were promised but not supported when the units shipped. Sure I would love to see more happen with the Kobo-1 and believe it is still possible with the hardware but any updates beyond this would be a gift rather than a necessity.

Truth is though my Kobo-1 was purchased before there was a Kobo wifi and a KT and my unit is still under manufacturer's original warranty because it is less than a year old. I suspect kobo wifi owners may soon discover they have received all the updates that are coming after the developers upgrade the KT a few more times and then move on to work on the next unit that is coming (or tinker with the other apps to catch them up).

[Lordvic]

Just out of curiosity. What makes you believe they're lieing about hardware limitations? do you have evidence to point in the direction?

The original Kobo came out a while ago. The Wifi itself has been other at least a year. The technologies have advanced dramatically in the short time. Not just screen technology but processors, memory, and who knwos what else. You're not a developer for Kobo. It could very well be for the Kobo touch to handle all it does in the new firmware it's doing more stuff at a time than the processor on the old Kobo can handle.

This upgrade pain is nothing nwe to anyone of any technology. At some point you have to stop providing support for told tech and move on to new tech.

[m_bisson]

All I want is something that lets me read books. Period. Any ereader on the market can do that, but I chose Kobo because it's Canadian. End of story. Why do you need all these extra features that regular paper books don't have?

[The Terminator]

I don't mean switch readers, I mean that if and when my kobo dies, I might switch. I still love my kobo, but goto page would be nice.

[Cyberman tM]

One "feature" of the CoolEr is that it doesn't use a database to track your books - it just displays the actual folder structure (filtered, though).
Makes it easy to sort stuff, probably makes it harder (if not impossible) to do any real search. Perhaps the reason Kobo went with database instead.

Originally Posted by taming

My sense is that the deal is that they have one development team and that they will almost always be assigned to working on the newer hardware, rather than adapting/rejigging for the older stuff.

Well, they could open the sources to old nickel, surely there are enough interested people who'd enhance the old software.

(Of course, it WOULD mean opening the sources - something few companies ever dare, because it might ?? (no clue actually. I don't see a reason not to open it)).

Personally - perhaps from a naive point of view - I would have thought that Nickel should be hardware independent. Apparently it isn't, which makes it impossible to give older devices the new software.

Originally Posted by Lordvic

The original Kobo came out a while ago. The Wifi itself has been other at least a year. The technologies have advanced dramatically in the short time. Not just screen technology but processors, memory, and who knwos what else.

Personal opinion ahead: I recently tried my Elonex EB600 again (with CoolEr Software), and it did feel a bit faster than the Kobo Wifi.
(Of course, I did fool around on my Kobo and might have ruined something somewhere).

Aside from that, yes hardware progresses - the WiFi CPU seems to be almost overkill (unless I misread that hardware spec), and the Touch CPU seems to be designed for eInk even.

But in any case, it doesn't really matter - what people seem to want isn't that much speed related, but features.

No hardware could keep the software from being able to search, or look up a dictionary.
It might be slow, but it would be possible.

Of course, the real problem might be that it's always cheaper to throw in more hardware than to spend more time developing.
If the Kobo Touch Nickel is written specifically for this device (I'm not talking about the CPU, but the rest of it), then it would be impossible to simply take it back to the Gen 1 Kobo - unless you actually rewrote parts of it.

So in part, it would be a hardware problem :-D

[edit]

Originally Posted by m_bisson

Why do you need all these extra features that regular paper books don't have?

Well, what do we "need" instead of air to breathe and basic food to survive? :-/
An eBook could be the next generation of the printed book. Why artificially limit them?

[filmo]

Incentive to improve older Kobo readers' software is number in use buying books from kobo. Knowing this they can make good business decision. It's like a shaver and razor blades. DRM can lock you into where you buy books and could lock you into buying more costly books that enable better features on latest greatest e-reader.