The drive for dictionary support

[mobelby]

Add me to the list.

Ie, Put in a dictionary and I'm sold

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Indigo Ink

Lack of dictionary support is the only thing that is keeping me away from Sony, add it, (it must be inside the book look up) and you have a customer...

Dictionary support was my primary motivation in buying a CyBook Gen3. I won't buy another Sony until they support it.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Dictionary support was my primary motivation in buying a CyBook Gen3. I won't buy another Sony until they support it.

That is not the reality I remember. It was first after you had used the dictionary on the Gen3 you bagan to think it was useful. I am pretty sure that you had bought the Gen3 when you wrote:

https://www.mobileread.com/forum/show...2&postcount=36

Perhaps these are people who are not reading books in their own language? I don't know - like you, I never use a dictionary while reading.

or

https://www.mobileread.com/forum/show...2&postcount=43

I honesty can't recall when I last came across an English word whose meaning I didn't know. I would consider myself pretty "well read", and hence have an extensive vocabulary. Most "fancy" English words derive from Latin or Greek, and since I am a classical scholar who reads Latin and Greek for recreation, my knowledge of these languages often tells me immediately what a word I haven't met before means. For example, I recently came across the word "adjuvant". I hadn't seem this word before, but I saw straight away that it was derived from the Latin verb "adjuvo", which means "I help", hence knew that "adjuvant" meant "a helper".

[HarryT]

No, what I said above was perfectly true. To elaborate:

When I owned a Sony (and wrote the posts that you quoted) I didn't see the point of a dictionary and didn't see the need for one.

I then sold my Sony and bought an iLiad, and on that I started to use a dictionary, and realised just how amazingly useful it was. I decided, though, that I preferred a 6" screen device to the iLiad, and so, when I was looking around for a new 6" device to buy, the fact that the Gen3 supported dictionary lookup was indeed one of my my prime motivations for buying one, as I stated above.

It's kind of like having air-con in your car - you can go for years without it and not miss it, but once you're had it, you'd never want another car without it .

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Dictionary support was my primary motivation in buying a CyBook Gen3. I won't buy another Sony until they support it.

But would you actually buy one if they did? My understanding is that you have pretty much said that you've settled on mobi supporting devices.

BOb

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

But would you actually buy one if they did? My understanding is that you have pretty much said that you've settled on mobi supporting devices.

BOb

That's certainly a very important consideration for me, yes. Dictionary support is a necessary, but perhaps not a sufficient, condition for me to buy another Sony.

[rhadin]

I have looked at the information (and images) about the Sony 700 here on MR and have decided that there are 2 things I do not like about it: (1) no dictionary lookup. I want to be able to double-tap or somehow select a word and have its dictionary definition popup immediately; and (2) the lack of page turning buttons on the right vertical side like the 505 has. (I could care less about wireless but my son, who was anxiously awaiting the Sony announcement, has said that he won't buy the 700 -- or a Sony Reader of any model -- until wireless is available.)

Of the 2 things I do not like about the Sony 700, the deal killer for me is the lack of dictionary support. I would likely buy the 700 (and give my wife my 505) with good dictionary support.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rhadin

my son, who was anxiously awaiting the Sony announcement, has said that he won't buy the 700 -- or a Sony Reader of any model -- until wireless is available

I'd be interested to know what your son actually wants WiFi on a bookreader for. I really can't think of anything in particular I'd want to use it for.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd be interested to know what your son actually wants WiFi on a bookreader for. I really can't think of anything in particular I'd want to use it for.

I agree. The wireless on the Kindle is nice. But I have it off 99% of the time. I usually browse/buy ebooks via the amazon site. It is much faster and lays out alot better on the PC browser than on the Kindle. Then, I just flip on the wireless for a minute till it gets the new book(s) and turn it off.

So, to me wireless is "nice to have" but the main reason I got my Kindle was for content/price of the Kindle book store. Secondary is the fact that I can read nonDRM mobi formated ebooks.

BOb

[Alisa]

Like Bob, I don't use the wireless all that often. I shop on the Amazon site and then just turn the wireless on to get my stuff. Other than that I turn it on for the occasional Wikipedia search. If the 700 had WiFi and a browser, it wouldn't quite have the ease of the EVDO. You wouldn't be able to rely as much on having connectivity when you're out, but I think people would still find it convenient. They could do online searches and Wikipedia like I do with my Kindle. Sure, I can get up and go to my computer but that breaks the rhythm of my reading more. I'm much less likely to than if I can just flip a switch and have my answer. I could get up and grab a dictionary, too, but before I had the Kindle I usually just infer from context and move on.

Sony could tailor a store site optimized for the device. Other stores, maybe even the Overdrive library service could do that as well. At the very least, they could have a page where you could log in and retrieve your content. If you wanted to move towards a paperless office, people could make online document repositories on their intranets accessible by the reader.

The lack of wireless isn't a dealbreaker for me but, like Harry with the dictionary, I didn't realize how much I would like it until I had it. I don't use it a lot but it adds to the quality of experience in a meaningful way.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd be interested to know what your son actually wants WiFi on a bookreader for. I really can't think of anything in particular I'd want to use it for.

Harry, he doesn't want it for any reason other than he has been charmed by the Kindle idea that he can be at the airport and download a book. He and I have discussed this several times in the past few months and I would say that he is simply of the generation that believes everything must include wireless.

I have 170 unread books on my 505. I've asked him how many of those books he thinks he can read while waiting for a flight. The "funny" thing is that he flies once or twice a year, so is rarely at an airport. But at 27, he is part of the "got to have it" generation.

[rasbadar]

I'd upgrade if it had dict lookup (with reasonable speed) and an "Oxford-like" dictionary available.

edit: I'd upgrade even faster, if it had the "side buttons" and both round buttons since I use all of them for page turning, depending on how it stand/sit/lie.

[Timoleon]

Originally Posted by rasbadar

I'd upgrade if it had dict lookup (with reasonable speed) and an "Oxford-like" dictionary available.

edit: I'd upgrade even faster, if it had the "side buttons" and both round buttons since I use all of them for page turning, depending on how it stand/sit/lie.

A decent dictionary, including etymologies, would be a Godsend.
Wish there was some way to implement it for the PRS-505, but I'd certainly consider upgrading to the 700 if it were not available for the earlier models.

Tim

[MidknytOwl]

I sign.

Part of my serious debate between the Sony and other readers was the fact that they had a dictionary and it did not. I also agree that adding it to the 505 would be nice.

[kirune]

Add my signature to that request for multiple dictionary support. If I bought the PRS-505 it was due to the existence of a hack to install a dictionary.