Will I stay with iRex in the future?

[Gogolo]

Hi

I am a so far happy iLiad user and see the new 9.7" devices and the Plastic Logic thing with great interest on the horizont.

I work a lot with A4 Papers, tons of scientific articles are waiting to be read on the iLiad, so I begin to look for the bigger devices. But also I see the good points with the iLiad: good pdf handling (zooming, remembers the zoom and position), nice scribbling function (only touchscreen will hardly be good enough) with merging capabilities, wikipedia, Internet, all the applications and games...

So I think: I not only want to switch to another brands 9.7" device and loose the abilities and comfort of the iLiad - what I would prefer would be a 9.7" iLiad!

So I hope very much that iRex is busy with a new product for professional users. I think they have already a good foundation.

Gogolo

[axel77]

Right now the iLiad is IMHO the best product on the market, and I think they got the right style to make the next good one.

However when a new scribabble, open to development, 9" or greater device comes around frlom any producer, I'm not sticking to iRex out of some pseudo-religious motivation. When someone else gets a product that in all terms is better, then bye bye. However right now, I don't see one that is directly on the horizont... takes a few months or maybe years.

[timezone]

I agree the iRex is probably the best reader on the Market. It has better contrast than the others, folders, run third party programs, etc.

Assuming a new reader had a better and larger screen, improved performance among others I will not move if it doesn't have folders, allow for a large memory card, note taking, browser, run third party programs.

At the same time iRex please get it together.
1. Give us a USB port that can charge andconnect to the PC. Any device that still uses a proprietary plug should be banned from the universe. A proprietary plug is unacceptable.

2, Wacom is cool but why not have a touch screen. Then we don't have to worry about battery drain. I don't want to pull out the stylus every time I want to touch an icon.

3. Open the Battery compartment. Stop drinking the Apple Kool-aid. A closed battery compartment is just plain stupid.

4. We should not have to install a developer package to install third party software.

5. Give us PDF DRM and ePub. In other words lets us choose which format we want to use.

6. Improve the boot time.

7. A hibernate mode.

8. Put the stylus in a location that is easy to reach even when the reader is in a leather container.

9. Thinner and lighter.

10 Get a distributor and sell in the U.S stores.

11. If you don't improve customer service and continue innovating then sell the business to Sony or Amazon. Either get with it or get out.

12. Get an agreement with Amazon to allow us to buy books from them.

13. Be more aggressive negotiating with newspapers and magazines Co. and offer content and let us connect to iRex to download the ones we subscribe to.

14. Talk to us iRex. Living in a hole in the ground will get you nowhere.

[nekokami]

I like my iLiad, but it's easy to see that iRex never wanted to be in the direct sales to customers business. They don't seem to be able to link up with partners who want to work with end customers, either. I'll use my iLiad until it breaks, but after that I'll be looking at the market to see what's out there. Maybe a Nokia would work just as well for me.

[Boris]

Having just managed to put my fat finger through the screen of my Iliad. I've been trying to decide whether to pay the 270 Euros to have the screen and a couple of other issues with the Iliad fixed, get a PRS-505 or wait another year or so for the next generation of E-Book devices.

To be honest having seen some of the next designs for future products I may wait for something that doesn't look like a DIY project. I'd use an Irex product again, but probably won't bother fixing the Iliad so it's back to reading manuals on a tablet pc

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by timezone

1. Give us a USB port that can charge andconnect to the PC. Any device that still uses a proprietary plug should be banned from the universe. A proprietary plug is unacceptable.

I agree that the whole hub thing is annoying, but with the current batteries you can't charge via USB. It takes a higher voltage/amp to charge the iLiad than a USB connection will supply. Most of the devices that allow you to charge via USB are much smaller than the iLiad. If they put smaller batteries in so that charging was more convenient, then the battery life would be much worse.

It would be nice to have a port directly on the unit for a charger, rather than deal with the hub, but you're still talking about having one of those 12V power bricks.

2, Wacom is cool but why not have a touch screen. Then we don't have to worry about battery drain. I don't want to pull out the stylus every time I want to touch an icon.

I think that's the other way around. With a touch screen, it would have to be "active" all the time, making battery drain worse. The fact that you have to pull the stylus out in order to draw is a good thing, with regards to battery life. When the stylus is put away, it shuts off the wacom layer, saving the battery.

3. Open the Battery compartment. Stop drinking the Apple Kool-aid. A closed battery compartment is just plain stupid.

I agree 100%. This is one of my biggest complaints. They should definitely make it a user changeable battery.

4. We should not have to install a developer package to install third party software.

They've said before that they may eventually make the developer package installed by default. In the not so distant past, the developer package was a lot more risky that it is now. There used to be a real danger of third party apps bricking your iLiad. That's the main reason it's not on there by default.

5. Give us PDF DRM and ePub. In other words lets us choose which format we want to use.

I don't know about ePub (is there a third party app that will read ePub docs?), but the only way to get DRM PDFs is to negotiate with Adobe for rights to the PDF encryption. iRex has tried to work this out with them in the past, and Adobe was not interested. They have historically been very reluctant to let anyone else have applications that can open DRM PDFs. When the Sony got it, it was fairly surprising. Hopefully this means that Adobe will be more willing to work with other companies now. I think iRex mentioned on their site that there were going to try and go back to Adobe and negotiate with them again.

6. Improve the boot time.

7. A hibernate mode.

Can't comment there. Faster boot and hibernate are always good things. It'll take some hardware/OS changes in order to get there though.

8. Put the stylus in a location that is easy to reach even when the reader is in a leather container.

Or else have the third party leather container manufacturers design a better container. It's reachable with the iRex deluxe cover, I think it's just the M-edge cover that causes a problem.

9. Thinner and lighter.

Same as 6 and 7. The current size/weight don't really bother me though.

10 Get a distributor and sell in the U.S stores.

They already have a US distributor/retailer, eReader Outfitters. You don't really see it in brick and mortar stores, but that's true of most of the readers. I think that will start to change if/when ebook readers in general become more mainstream. I think it's still enough of a niche market that stores don't want to dedicate display/shelf space to them. I think we're getting close though.

11. If you don't improve customer service and continue innovating then sell the business to Sony or Amazon. Either get with it or get out.

They have already made some moves to address the customer service problems. Bringing it in house, instead of outsourcing it, will hopefully make a big difference. They are innovating, they're just not announcing future products/features in advance. That makes sense for a company with an established product in the market. It's just good business sense, otherwise you'll kill off your current product before you have a new one ready to sell.

They also do a lot that we as consumer's don't necessarily hear about. iRex's core competency is developing hardware. Most of the eInk readers on the market (including Sony, Kindle, etc) are using some hardware developed by iRex. When PVI builds an eInk screen, they take the eInk layer from EInk Corp and pair it up with a display controller. The display controller was designed by iRex. They've done some things "behind the scenes" that benefit all the eInk devices, not just the iLiad. A couple other companies are starting to get into this, but most of the eInk devices currently on the market are using iRex controllers.

That's also why the iLiad currently has a larger screen with better greyscale than the other readers. iRex also developed the display controller that gives them the size/greyscale advantage.

12. Get an agreement with Amazon to allow us to buy books from them.

I assume you mean kindle books? I doubt Amazon will let anybody else have access to kindle books. They made them incompatible with Mobipocket (which Amazone also owns) on purpose. The fact that you have to own a kindle reader in order to access kindle ebooks was not an accident. There's really nothing iRex (or any other device manufacturer) can do about it. It's Amazon's decision.

13. Be more aggressive negotiating with newspapers and magazines Co. and offer content and let us connect to iRex to download the ones we subscribe to.

Yeah, definitely. That was one of the more interesting features of the iLiad, but it never really went anywhere. I don't know what the reasons are, but I wonder if they had a hard time getting newspapers/magazines to agree. There are even a lot of book publishers out there that are not interested in getting into the "ebook" movement.

14. Talk to us iRex. Living in a hole in the ground will get you nowhere.

Kind of goes along with 11, but this has been discussed before both on here and iRex's forum. There's a balancing act between making big announcements when you're still working on new devices, versus killing off sales of your current devices because everyone stops buying it when they know there's something better coming out soon. Every company has this problem. If you're brand new to a market (PlasticLogic, Astak, etc) then it makes sense to be as loud/public as possible with what you're working on. Both to drive up interest amongst consumers, but also to keep your investors happy. If you're an established company in a market though, there can be some real downsides to making announcements of future products/features too early. People will stop buying your current product if they know something newer/better is just around the corner. That'll dry up your revenue stream and put the company in a bad financial posiition. It's not that an established company isn't working on anything new, it's just that alot of times it's better for them if they don't publicize it too early.

They have mentioned some of what they're currently working on for the next software release, and have dropped hints about "big things to come" with regards to hardware. They haven't given any schedule/dates for releases though, and it probably makes sense that they don't.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I don't know about ePub (is there a third party app that will read ePub docs?), but the only way to get DRM PDFs is to negotiate with Adobe for rights to the PDF encryption. iRex has tried to work this out with them in the past, and Adobe was not interested. They have historically been very reluctant to let anyone else have applications that can open DRM PDFs. When the Sony got it, it was fairly surprising. Hopefully this means that Adobe will be more willing to work with other companies now. I think iRex mentioned on their site that there were going to try and go back to Adobe and negotiate with them again.

Sony actually includes Adobe Digital Editions, so Adobe may still have issues with others decoding their encryption. It does appear, though, that ADE could run on a iLiad follow on, and Adobe should be more aggressive than they appear to be in getting ADE on Linux EInk devices. However, I thought the sticking point for all the vendors using MobiPocket Reader on dedicated reading devices was that MobiPocket wants DRM exclusivity. If there has to be DRM, then multiple kinds is better than one kind. MOBI-only is particularly problematic for devices with large screens, because PDF and ePub are the two best formats for technical books and Adobe DRM appears poised to get a hammerlock on ePub DRM just as they have for Secure PDF ebooks.

When FBReader adds CSS support is may be a viable alternative for CSS-heavy but DRM-free ePubs.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I think that's the other way around. With a touch screen, it would have to be "active" all the time, making battery drain worse. The fact that you have to pull the stylus out in order to draw is a good thing, with regards to battery life. When the stylus is put away, it shuts off the wacom layer, saving the battery.

Touch screens are passive, I think, not needing to be powered. They are also more opaque than the Wacom-type screens. The eBookwise 1150 is a good example-- the touch screen doesn't draw power, but impairs the readability of the device without a backlight.

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I don't know about ePub (is there a third party app that will read ePub docs?), but the only way to get DRM PDFs is to negotiate with Adobe for rights to the PDF encryption.

FBreader reads ePub, but not with DRM. As another poster has commented, the sticking point on supporting any other DRM besides Mobipocket may be the Mobipocket license.

[Shaggy]

Yeah, they would need to re-negotiate the Mobipocket license if they currently have an exclusive arrangement with them. I'm pretty sure I saw something from iRex saying they were going to go back and try to get Adobe on board again, so they must have something in mind with overcoming the Mobipocket restriction as well.

Do you know if the Mobipocket exclusive license predates the Amazon buy out, or did it come about afterwards?

[timezone]

This has been a great discussion. I enjoyed reading the rebuttals to my questions. It sometimes appears the iLiad discussions have been flat and maybe the great discussions/debates have passed before I arrived. I don't know whether there are good follow-up responses to my concern regarding USB connections or touch screen technology because I am not a mechanical engineer. These issues were probably debated during the design phase of the product and they may have had some heated discussions within iRex.

I do believe in one thing. I use to say the Pocketpc phones were not ready for primetime until recently. In other words I would never have told my father to buy the HTC 6700 but the Mogul probably and the Touch Pro definitely when it arrives on Sprint. Maybe the Kindle is ok for the general reader but the iLiad is not ready for primetime. I am not saying the iLiad has to turn into a stupid device that can't be hacked. It should remain open for the programmers and under the hood tinkers but it also needs to be easy for the casual user as well.

[Mambo]

For me iRex is no competition to Plastic Logic's offer unless it has an inhibitive price tag or there is no possibility for note-taking.

Touch layer shouldn't dim the screen in my view - or at least I didn't experience that on an iPod Touch, so it can be done properly as well.

The biggest problems with the iLiad: battery life, fragile screen, bad design (not flat or compact enoguh), so can not be used on a table as a notepad. In my view, the design of an ipod touch (the first generation) should be taken as the basis (thin, solid) and enlarged to accomodate a 8-10" screen. Plastic Logic's design seems close enough to that.

[haridasi]

My biggest problems with iLiad begins with the battery life. It just doesn't last long enough. Next time I will probably purchase another reader.

Secondly, the wireless capabilities works badly. It only connects to my router when I sit 1 meter from the router itself.

I will use my iLiad till it bricks, and until then I hope they will have come up with something better or I'm off their client list.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Mambo

Touch layer shouldn't dim the screen in my view - or at least I didn't experience that on an iPod Touch, so it can be done properly as well.

The iPod Touch is backlit. The issue with a touch screen is that it doesn't allow enough light to make a reflective-only screen visible in most lighting situations. That being said, I don't know if the iPod Touch uses the same kind of touch screen that other systems (e.g. the eBookwise 1150) have used. The only device I can think of offhand that was fairly readable in ambient light and included a touchscreen was the Newton Messagepad, which was quite expensive at the time.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

They have mentioned some of what they're currently working on for the next software release, and have dropped hints about "big things to come" with regards to hardware. They haven't given any schedule/dates for releases though, and it probably makes sense that they don't.

iRex just made a post on their forum that Monday 9/22 we'll find out why they've been silent for the past several months. Sounds like they're planning on announcing something new very soon. They do not say whether it will be software or hardware though.

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

iRex just made a post on their forum that Monday 9/22 we'll find out why they've been silent for the past several months. Sounds like they're planning on announcing something new very soon. They do not say whether it will be software or hardware though.

Well, that's something to look forward to, anyway. I guess.