iRex Technologies files for Chapter 11

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by ericshliao

Since iRex goes bankrupt, all assets holding by iRex are to be shared by all iRex's creditors. The device that you sent to iRex is still your property (as long as you can prove it), not iRex's, you should be equitable to claim it back from iRex with the liquidator's or bankrupt-administrator's consent.
However, how can we repair our iRex devices without iRex?

Added:
Have you got the refund before iRex went bankrupt? If not, you may have to wait for some time (the process of liquidation) to get only partial of the amount.

Of course, you are right. But it may be very expensive to get it back if bankruptcy administrators don't cooperate.

[ericshliao]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

But it may be very expensive to get it back if bankruptcy administrators don't cooperate.

Well, under normal cirmstances, the bankrupt-administrator(s) does not have any reason to dis-cooperate. The court will assign bankrupt-administrator based on his expertise and integrity. The bankrupt-administrator should do his job with honesty and fidelity. Thus, if some debt is on official accounting record, the bankrupt-administrator will not refuse to pay it unless he thinks it fraudulent or fake. That's my general understanding of the legal system of bankrupty. If there is something special in the nation where iRex registered in, the conclusion may differ.

[joblack]

I'm highly satisfied with the Irex devices. The bad thing is the Irex 1000S isn't orderable any more. The only alternative is the Kindle DX but the jailbreak and FBReader is non-existent.

Let's hope they get new investors. Not everybody wants to buy such cheap iPad toys.

[jr_monton]

I've just ordered an iliad (ebay - maybe the seller knew something); but won't get it for a while. If the company goes under and the website dies - is there any other way to get shell access to the device?

[ericshliao]

Shell access is just some modification to a file "registry.xml". You can prepare your own registry.xml and use the techinique described here: http://67.205.70.12/forums/showthread.php?t=28055 to gain shell access.

[Devlar]

Originally Posted by deadite66

me, one of the first Iliad buyers (order number 512) we had to agree to use pre-release firmware.

at the time we had a choice between irex or sony for an eink device.

I think I'm 556 or something close to that.

First, I apologize profusely for what I'm about to say will likely fray the nerves of many of you. But as they say, the truth hurts.

I like my iLiad.

Despite never having any part of it replaced or upgraded. The battery still sucks, and the refresh rate is rather slow. The adapter looks like it was developed in the early nineties. I mean really, what horrible TU Delft drop-out decided to make the connector have wings. Better yet, who approved that connector for release to the public.

Then there are the connectivity issues. I have a protected router, and not once have I been able to connect my device to it through wireless. Every time I need to upgrade I need to grab a Ethernet cable and that retarded manta-ray connector and go upstairs and plug in.

But in the end I was more than willing to forgive and forget these issue because iRex offered something innovative, e-ink. Which at the time, as someone so astutely declared already, the choice was between them and another soon to be bankrupt company Sony.

No, iRex's major downfall was its perverse inability to understand the concept of UX - or user experience.

The customer service was awful, hell reading half of the posts on this board convinces me that it is still awful. Yet, despite that, the entire product was tied to the provision of that service. No you cannot unlock the device yourself, you must go through us; No you cannot upgrade yourself you must go through us. No you cannot develop for the device unless we allow you. No you cannot fix the device, unless we let you... and so on.

At the same time the entire software development was dumped onto the community to complete. Which did a fantastic job, but could only do so much. While the device does a whole lot more than it did when I received it a few years ago, it still could do a whole lot more with a good team of dedicated programmers.

iRex didn't get this, and now they are paying the price for it. Capitalism is fun that way. If you can't figure out why a company like Apple or HTC can charge so much more than Nokia for its telephones and still remain profitable, then you don't deserve to remain in business. It's as simple as that.

Now... I'm going to take my iLiad, a wireless keyboard and go write on the beach, a functionality brought to me by this wonderful community.

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Devlar

First, I apologize profusely for what I'm about to say will likely fray the nerves of many of you. But as they say, the truth hurts.

I like my iLiad.

Well said!!!

And, I too like my iLiad, but more for the additional functionality implemented by our community than for just iRex's offerings.

I too, at the onset, suffered through router-hell and only when I implemented WPA2 and stopped downloading to the CF did it "work" as advertised!

The iLiad hardware was probably a bit advanced for it's time, but that's what made me notice it and drool for it. Too bad the software/OS programming side never caught up. To be honest, I think iRex's demise was that they abandoned the iLiad way too soon and in the process killed whatever goodwill that device afforded them.

I'm no stranger to "abandoned hardware" since I still use my REB1200 daily, but in this case, the software and hardware were top-notch (and a bit advanced for their time even by day's standards!). What killed my ebook reader was the closed ebook system that the subsequent manufacturer (Gemstar) imposed on it's ebook users. The DRM wasn't all that bad, but Personal Content was forbidden; you can't keep people from using THEIR device against their wishes for too long, or else you'll get a revolt or jail-break...

Now... I'm going to take my iLiad, a wireless keyboard and go write on the beach, a functionality brought to me by this wonderful community.

And thanks to our Moblieread developers no less!!! Enjoy!

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

Too bad the software/OS programming side never caught up. To be honest, I think iRex's demise was that they abandoned the iLiad way too soon and in the process killed whatever goodwill that device afforded them.

I think the main reason behind both of those is that iRex was too small. When the entire company is 30 employees, probably only a couple of them are software developers. They didn't have the man-power to maintain two completely different firmware sets, so in order to come out with a second generation device (DR series) they had to stop working on the first generation (iLiad). Given what we know now about their financial problems, they didn't have the resources to go out and hire the people they would have needed to in order to support both properly.

They took a gamble by coming out with a new product line, and it seems to have done them in.

I think in the end though, it would have been a miracle for a 30 employee company to survive in a market competing against the likes of Amazon, Sony, and Apple. Especially with what looks like now is shaping up to be a price war between two of them. There's no way a relatively tiny company would have been able to survive that war.

[joblack]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think the main reason behind both of those is that iRex was too small. When the entire company is 30 employees, probably only a couple of them are software developers. They didn't have the man-power to maintain two completely different firmware sets, so in order to come out with a second generation de

I like my Iliad as well but they should have removed the Iliad completely. There should be the DR800 for the 'consumer market' and the '1000S' for the professional guys. Make it simple.

I own my Iliad for over 3 years and never had problems (well I cracked my screen once but it was completely my fault). I have no doubt that it won't age that much (battery excluded).

[Devlar]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think the main reason behind both of those is that iRex was too small. When the entire company is 30 employees, probably only a couple of them are software developers.
...
I think in the end though, it would have been a miracle for a 30 employee company to survive in a market competing against the likes of Amazon, Sony, and Apple. Especially with what looks like now is shaping up to be a price war between two of them. There's no way a relatively tiny company would have been able to survive that war.

Well the quote is indicative of a broken set of priorities. If you think hardware alone is going to save you in this market you have the wrong idea about the nature of this market. Remember when Apple's PowerPC line was producing slow, generally unresponsive computers? They managed to keep their clientèle with their software package (See OSX) while transitioning their hardware to a faster Intel processor. In the land of non-programmers, software is king. The iLiad was really a luxury product for us programmer types and the sad reality is there isn't a great deal of us around capable of shelling out that kind of money to potentially brick something.

They never made it to the price war. Their only initial competitor was Sony, which, at the time, they could have easily crushed despite the higher price of their unit. That sounds dirty to say.

Plus, I find the it somewhat amusing using the example of 'Big Corporate Giants', like Apple, Amazon and Sony. Each one of these companies started out as the underdog before making it big. No one thought someone would pay that much for a telephone, they did. Apple won. No one thought that an online store could out perform a brick and mortar store, it did. Amazon won. Hell, no one thought a Japanese company would be capable of taking on giants like GE and Philips, it did. Sony won (only to of course become fat and inflexible themselves, fortunately not nearly as badly as GE or Philips).

The reason every one of these companies managed to beat out their bigger badder competitors was simply the ability to provide a better user experience to its customers. Hence the software problem. iRex simply did not do that, they never considered it a priority, or if they did they never adjusted themselves to their customers expectations, and they reap insolvency as a result.

[eLiNK]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think the main reason behind both of those is that iRex was too small. When the entire company is 30 employees, probably only a couple of them are software developers. ...
...
I think in the end though, it would have been a miracle for a 30 employee company to survive in a market competing against the likes of Amazon, Sony, and Apple. Especially with what looks like now is shaping up to be a price war between two of them. There's no way a relatively tiny company would have been able to survive that war.

And there you have it again. The answer to why they failed: mismanagement.
They were pioneers and they still managed to remain over the years as small as they were (or maybe became even smaller) at the beginning.

The management has obviously no idea what marketing (as related to marketing their products and marketing its firm to prospective investors) or user experience is.

The right management of the firm, which had that level of expertise, would provide them an easy access to venture capital needed to grow.
Every firm starts out small but only successful get big.

[catharsis]

iRex management was a gang of freaking imbeciles. They expected high sales is the US whilst failing to deliver basic functionalities as pdf zoom, continuous page flow and annotation in the first firmware version. It's easy to blame the FCC, but I'm sure they delayed too much the formalities for getting the test and if they made it by Christmas they would of launched a half-finished product. I really feel sorry for the company because of their excellent hardware and programmers who were really involved into the community.

[Redfox]

If any iLiad lovers want to snap up a second device as backup, I've just put my pristine V2 on ebay, priced competitively to sell:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...16#post1023116

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Devlar

Plus, I find the it somewhat amusing using the example of 'Big Corporate Giants', like Apple, Amazon and Sony. Each one of these companies started out as the underdog before making it big.

And for each example of such an underdog winning, there are hundreds of companies that try the same thing and fail.

[yacoob]

Anyone heard any news? Any chance Irex is back in business?