Mob at Local Indigo this Morning!

bamelin · 05-01-2010, 11:21 PM

Ok maybe not really a mob! More like a few families, a couple older folks, a few young couples and me. But all of us had one thing in common ... we were there for a Kobo.

I got to my local Indigo just before it opened and it's a good thing I did. There was a small line waiting for the store to open ... and as soon as it did at least 6 or 7 kobo's were snapped up. Within 5 minutes the store's stock (of 10) were gone.

I'm out in Milton so I'd imagine it was alot crazier in the major urban centres like Toronto, Vancouver etc

ficbot · 05-01-2010, 11:28 PM

I was at Yonge/Eg today and there were four staff manning the Kobo booth and at least that many people looking at them. They seemed to have trained the staff too, they were competently walking people through it. I think they are hitting the mark here for a basic, entry-level device for people new to ebooks. It does not have every feature out there, but it's simple, and at this price, I think newbies will snap it up.

bamelin · 05-01-2010, 11:35 PM

I talked to the people buying it in the store I was at ... it seemed split down the middle in terms of the customers.

Half were noobs like me buying their first ereader (most of us making the plunge due to the very affordable price). I also noted that of the older customers buying their first ereader most were ecstatic to have the 100 classics installed.

The other half were buying Kobo's for friends/family as gifts to get them into ereading.

It seems that the very economical price was the common factor for everyone.

GA Russell · 05-01-2010, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

I think they are hitting the mark here for a basic, entry-level device for people new to ebooks. It does not have every feature out there, but it's simple, and at this price, I think newbies will snap it up.

Yes, but I think it is also an important factor that Canada has had a very limited choice of eBook readers until very recently.

Thrasher · 05-02-2010, 09:38 AM

I bought mine at Chapters in the Chinook Mall in Calgary yesterday. I got in about 10 minutes after they opened and clearly I was the first to buy the device. So not too many fans of ebooks in Calgary....

trishkit · 05-02-2010, 02:22 PM

I just purchased one today in Barrie. Apparently they had a busy day on Saturday and sold 6. I bought #7 this morning, leaving them with one.

Right now my unit is charging and I am waiting. I am very interested to see how it measures up to my CyBook!

SensualPoet · 05-02-2010, 02:27 PM

Based on comments here at mobileread and elsewhere, I am impressed by the roll-out. Indigo appears to have done a good job ensuring stock at all locations across the chain and, at least at major locations, properly trained staff to help with the launch. And I love the fact that you can walk in and play with a working model -- not something on a canned loop or locked in a cabinet. Best Buy, are you listening?

GSteer · 05-02-2010, 09:05 PM

Got my first one yesterday evening at 6pm from the Vancouver Chapters (Granville/Broadway), got the thrid last out of thirty they had that day. Todays replacement was about number ten of an extra twenty they drafted in from the Vancouver Robson store.

Seems like a popular bunny.

srid · 05-02-2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Yes, but I think it is also an important factor that Canada has had a very limited choice of eBook readers until very recently.

That is mostly why I bought the Kobo. PRS 600 has pathetic contrast and annoying screen reflection. And Kindle may not be a good thing to invest .. for Amazon's ebooks (azw) can only be read on a Kindle.

SensualPoet · 05-02-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srid

And Kindle may not be a good thing to invest .. for Amazon's ebooks (azw) can only be read on a Kindle.

That doesn't fuss me. The "format wars" on e-books are nothing like we saw in terms of VHS/Beta and HD DVD/Blu-ray. Let's not forget the other huge DRM format wars: music. Apple -- which everyone agrees won the hardware game and has thrived as a leading distributor of content with iTunes -- started out with a proprietary format AAC, not MP3. Apple eventually moved to mp3 and even to a non-DRM model. I am confident something like this will evolve over time with e-books.

Kindle's sole challenge is the public library market which embraced DRMed ePub. I don't think this is an unsolvable gap and, in the meantime, Amazon's Kindle is thriving in spite of it. I am quite confident buying books from Amazon and embracing its native format, mobi, for the core of my library. However, I am also making "backup" copies of everything in ePub using calibre so whatever device I want to read on, I have an "identical" copy.

srid · 05-02-2010, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

I am quite confident buying books from Amazon and embracing its native format, mobi, for the core of my library. However, I am also making "backup" copies of everything in ePub using calibre so whatever device I want to read on, I have an "identical" copy.

How can you convert Amazon's DRM-based AZW files at all? Is the resultant ePub without DRM or, say, with Adobe DRM? Can the converted ePub file be opened on, say, the Kobo?

SensualPoet · 05-02-2010, 10:10 PM

Yes, removing the DRM from Kindle files is incredibly easy -- once you know how. There are threads here and a quick Google will get you on your way. [Note: this is way easier than it sounds. You'll have to install a common developer's tool called python and a couple of special scripts which do the jailbreak. There are similiar scripts for ePub DRM removal so you can choose the vendor with the best price for the book you'd like to purchase regardless of format. Either way, you end up with a nicely backed up copy.] Once you have an unlocked Kindle purchase -- azw is for all intents and purposes is mobi -- a quick button press or two in Calibre will convert to non-DRM ePub which can then be opened on the Kobo. You need only drop the ePub into the root directory of your Kobo and start reading.

BTW, it doesn't seem to matter what directory you put an ePub on the Kobo, it still finds it. I created a "MyBooks" in the root directory and, inside, I drop cascading folders from Calibre -- a folder for the author, the a folder for the title, then the ePub. It will make it easy to "clean up" at a later date if I have to and also lets me group the titles by author. It make no difference to the Kobo but makes it easier for me to "read" the file directories.

srid · 05-02-2010, 11:53 PM

Whoa, thanks SensualPoet. I managed to find a way to remove DRM and convert the resultant .mobi to .epub via Calibre. I purchased DA's Getting Things Done from Amazon (which is not yet available in the Kobo/Sony stores for Canada). It looks pretty good on Kobo! Except, I can't change the font size - damn!

I don't know if the new Kindle format (Topaz/.tpz) can be made DRM-free yet. But thanks again for the hint -- it seems that I can now buy certain books from the Kindle store and read them on my Kobo.

PS: Being a computer programmer, I had no trouble setting up Python.

lchen · 05-03-2010, 01:36 PM

Went to the Richmond Hill, Ontario Chapters Indigo on May 1, 2010 at about 5pm and staff mentioned that there were about 25 sold so far. New shipments were expected throughout the week. The Staff mentioned that customers appeared very interested in the device.

Turt99 · 05-03-2010, 01:41 PM

The Brampton Ontario Chapters didn't have a MOB or anything, I went with my kids at about 10am, no one was at the display station. I tracked down a staff member and they had to go to the back room to get me one to purchase.

Overall, I'm enjoying my purchase.

05-01-2010, 11:21 PM	#1
bamelin Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kobo	Mob at Local Indigo this Morning! Ok maybe not really a mob! More like a few families, a couple older folks, a few young couples and me. But all of us had one thing in common ... we were there for a Kobo. I got to my local Indigo just before it opened and it's a good thing I did. There was a small line waiting for the store to open ... and as soon as it did at least 6 or 7 kobo's were snapped up. Within 5 minutes the store's stock (of 10) were gone. I'm out in Milton so I'd imagine it was alot crazier in the major urban centres like Toronto, Vancouver etc Last edited by bamelin; 05-01-2010 at 11:27 PM.

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05-01-2010, 11:28 PM	#2
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I was at Yonge/Eg today and there were four staff manning the Kobo booth and at least that many people looking at them. They seemed to have trained the staff too, they were competently walking people through it. I think they are hitting the mark here for a basic, entry-level device for people new to ebooks. It does not have every feature out there, but it's simple, and at this price, I think newbies will snap it up.

05-01-2010, 11:35 PM	#3
bamelin Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kobo	I talked to the people buying it in the store I was at ... it seemed split down the middle in terms of the customers. Half were noobs like me buying their first ereader (most of us making the plunge due to the very affordable price). I also noted that of the older customers buying their first ereader most were ecstatic to have the 100 classics installed. The other half were buying Kobo's for friends/family as gifts to get them into ereading. It seems that the very economical price was the common factor for everyone.

05-02-2010, 09:38 AM	#5
Thrasher Groupie Posts: 156 Karma: 1003934 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada Device: Nook Wifi	I bought mine at Chapters in the Chinook Mall in Calgary yesterday. I got in about 10 minutes after they opened and clearly I was the first to buy the device. So not too many fans of ebooks in Calgary....

05-02-2010, 02:22 PM	#6
trishkit Member Posts: 18 Karma: 500332 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Canada Device: Cybook Gen3, Kobo original, Kobo Touch, Google Nexus 7	I just purchased one today in Barrie. Apparently they had a busy day on Saturday and sold 6. I bought #7 this morning, leaving them with one. Right now my unit is charging and I am waiting. I am very interested to see how it measures up to my CyBook!

05-02-2010, 02:27 PM	#7
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Based on comments here at mobileread and elsewhere, I am impressed by the roll-out. Indigo appears to have done a good job ensuring stock at all locations across the chain and, at least at major locations, properly trained staff to help with the launch. And I love the fact that you can walk in and play with a working model -- not something on a canned loop or locked in a cabinet. Best Buy, are you listening?

05-02-2010, 09:05 PM	#8
GSteer Flying Monkies! Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Device: Kobo [White]	Got my first one yesterday evening at 6pm from the Vancouver Chapters (Granville/Broadway), got the thrid last out of thirty they had that day. Todays replacement was about number ten of an extra twenty they drafted in from the Vancouver Robson store. Seems like a popular bunny.

05-02-2010, 10:10 PM	#12
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Yes, removing the DRM from Kindle files is incredibly easy -- once you know how. There are threads here and a quick Google will get you on your way. [Note: this is way easier than it sounds. You'll have to install a common developer's tool called python and a couple of special scripts which do the jailbreak. There are similiar scripts for ePub DRM removal so you can choose the vendor with the best price for the book you'd like to purchase regardless of format. Either way, you end up with a nicely backed up copy.] Once you have an unlocked Kindle purchase -- azw is for all intents and purposes is mobi -- a quick button press or two in Calibre will convert to non-DRM ePub which can then be opened on the Kobo. You need only drop the ePub into the root directory of your Kobo and start reading. BTW, it doesn't seem to matter what directory you put an ePub on the Kobo, it still finds it. I created a "MyBooks" in the root directory and, inside, I drop cascading folders from Calibre -- a folder for the author, the a folder for the title, then the ePub. It will make it easy to "clean up" at a later date if I have to and also lets me group the titles by author. It make no difference to the Kobo but makes it easier for me to "read" the file directories.

05-02-2010, 11:53 PM	#13
srid Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Location: North Vancouver, BC Device: Kindle 2	Whoa, thanks SensualPoet. I managed to find a way to remove DRM and convert the resultant .mobi to .epub via Calibre. I purchased DA's Getting Things Done from Amazon (which is not yet available in the Kobo/Sony stores for Canada). It looks pretty good on Kobo! Except, I can't change the font size - damn! I don't know if the new Kindle format (Topaz/.tpz) can be made DRM-free yet. But thanks again for the hint -- it seems that I can now buy certain books from the Kindle store and read them on my Kobo. PS: Being a computer programmer, I had no trouble setting up Python.

05-03-2010, 01:36 PM	#14
lchen Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 12 Join Date: May 2010 Device: Kobo EReader	Went to the Richmond Hill, Ontario Chapters Indigo on May 1, 2010 at about 5pm and staff mentioned that there were about 25 sold so far. New shipments were expected throughout the week. The Staff mentioned that customers appeared very interested in the device.

05-03-2010, 01:41 PM	#15
Turt99 Connoisseur Posts: 92 Karma: 14 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	The Brampton Ontario Chapters didn't have a MOB or anything, I went with my kids at about 10am, no one was at the display station. I tracked down a staff member and they had to go to the back room to get me one to purchase. Overall, I'm enjoying my purchase.