Your recommendations please

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Unless they start pulling crap similar to what Microsoft did to MS Reader owners.

What "crap" are you referring to? I've been using Microsoft Reader for goodness knows how many years, and I don't recall any particular issues ever occurring with it.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

And their devices will be orphans, with no official support or repair options. If they lose or break their reader, they are SOL. And the Sony Connect store would go away, most likely meaning no further commercial titles in Sony format.

I submit this would be a deal breaker for the majority of users.
[/b]

Well, we all obviously have different feelings about that. In the year that I owned my Sony Reader, I didn't buy a single book from the Sony Store, so it would be irrelevent to me whether or not it survived - I prefer to either create my own books, or convert commercial eBooks from LIT format.

Repair was never an option for those of us who live outside the US, so there's nothing lost there.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by HarryT

What "crap" are you referring to? I've been using Microsoft Reader for goodness knows how many years, and I don't recall any particular issues ever occurring with it.

That would be the crap whereby my Passport and MS Reader IDs went the way of the wind because I hadn't used them recently enough!

Derek

[HarryT]

You mean you had a hotmail account which expired, or something like that? Couldn't you simply re-activate it? My hotmail account's gone away from time to time, but it's never affected Passport in doing so.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by HarryT

You mean you had a hotmail account which expired, or something like that? Couldn't you simply re-activate it? My hotmail account's gone away from time to time, but it's never affected Passport in doing so.

Microsoft told me my activations for my two licenses are *expired*. They hinted that once I created new ones, I could always just go back and buy new copies of the ebooks under the new activation license. Yeah, right! I'm *NOT* going to shell out for 60 NEW copies of ebooks I've already purchased! (Naturally, I took the old ones and extracted them from the .lit and converted them to mobi format.)

So yes, *CRAP*!

Derek

[HarryT]

I'd have done the same, but I am rather puzzled by the "expiry" issue. I didn't know that activations expired. I've had some of mine for many years, and they still seem to work just fine. Very strange! I understand entirely why you'd be annoyed about it!

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Well, we all obviously have different feelings about that. In the year that I owned my Sony Reader, I didn't buy a single book from the Sony Store, so it would be irrelevent to me whether or not it survived - I prefer to either create my own books, or convert commercial eBooks from LIT format.

Repair was never an option for those of us who live outside the US, so there's nothing lost there.

Agreed. But I don't think you are typical of the users the Sony Reader (or the Amazon Kindle) is aimed at. Those folks want to download and read current titles in ebook format, which means paying for content and dealing with DRM.

They don't know how to and and likely aren't interested in creating their own ebooks, and haven't a clue about stripping DRM from .LIT ebooks and converting. And if they lose or break their reader, and the device is no longer made or supported, they have a library of paid for content they can't use.

For you, the objections I outlined are not an issue. They wouldn't be for me either, but I don't assume I'm a typical user.
______
Dennis

[jerryleejr]

As much as I would love to have just one Device, I dont know that the Screen size and Battery life would be worth dealing with an Iphone as a Reader.

JJ

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

#5 is not necessarily a good thing. Talk to folks who own a Clie.

The Clie line was Sony's entry in the PDA market, when PDAs were "must have devices" and Palm and Handsrping couldn't make thm fast enough. They ran Palm OS (with some annoying proprietary Sony tweaks), and a number of models were produced.

Sony killed the line and exited the market. The Clies were profitable, but not profitable enough. Sony management decided they could get a better return on their investment putting the funding elsewhere.

One of the concerns expressed here a while back was whether Sony would be in the ebook market long term, or whether the sales, revenues, and profits would be insufficient and they'd pull the plug. The problem is that Sony is a big outfit, and needs big numbers to make something worth doing. Management has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders to invest where it will get the best return. We don't know how well reader and ebook sales are doing, so we can't guess whether Sony will stick with it.

(The same comments apply to Amazon and the Kindle, but they are in a different position. They are a consumer oriented company, selling a variety of goods as a retailer. It was fairly easy for them to add ebooks to their line, since they already sold pbooks and had the established relationships with publishers. And they can leverage their content to provide Kindle sales. Prices on ebooks are generally cheaper at Amazon...if you have a Kindle. If either vendor decides the idea isn't working and to fold the operation, I'd call Sony more likely to do so.)

What people FORGET is that Amazon has a KNOWN history of screwing people when it comes to eBooks. Amazon at one point sold eBooks. Amazon then decided to stop selling eBooks and everyone eBook library was emptied so if you needed to redownload due to updating the computer or what not, you were truly screwed. So Amazon has a big black mark against them as far as eBooks go. Way to go Amazon.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by bwaldron

Absolutely...and the major reason I didn't seriously consider the PRS505.

And Amazon has pulled eBooks from their site right out from under people who needed to redownload due to the way DRM works.

[JSWolf]

Now the issue of repair...

Tell me if I am wrong here please. But doesn't the Kindle have no repair option once the warranty is expired?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What people FORGET is that Amazon has a KNOWN history of screwing people when it comes to eBooks. Amazon at one point sold eBooks. Amazon then decided to stop selling eBooks and everyone eBook library was emptied so if you needed to redownload due to updating the computer or what not, you were truly screwed. So Amazon has a big black mark against them as far as eBooks go. Way to go Amazon.

No, we don't "forget" it Jon - I (at least) simply don't think that it's some huge deal like you do.

I am not aware of any eBook store that claims that it will keep your books available for you to the end of eternity. Eg, FictionWise (to use one example) say that your books will be available for download "for a minimum of 3 months". IIRC, Amazon kept books available for something like a year after they stopped selling them, which seems reasonable to me.

What does the Sony Store say about how long you'll be able to download your books for?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Now the issue of repair...

Tell me if I am wrong here please. But doesn't the Kindle have no repair option once the warranty is expired?

Nobody's Kindle warranty has expired yet, so the question is moot.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Nobody's Kindle warranty has expired yet, so the question is moot.

What if you break it and it's obvious it's not a warranty fault. Do you have to purchase a new one or can you send it to Amazon for repair?

[JSWolf]

I've decided on the best way to sort out eBooks so that I am not beholden to any one company or store. That is to purchase in a format I can remove the DRM and then convert to other formats so I also will not lose my purchased content.