The Day The Forum Died: Rest in Peace

Dr. Drib · 01-12-2011, 07:37 AM

As a PocketPro owner it saddens me to see a Forum die, but that is apparently what has happened.

I've "retired" my PocketPro from active use - mainly because there is no longer any sense of community here, which is a valuable asset to owning any ebook Reader where one can participate in varied discussions about the joys and challenges of owning a new piece of technology.

There are no new reports from jenifer, either; in fact, one can legitimately question whether or not she is still employed by Astak. ("Hello, Jenifer: How are you today?" There is no friendly return, no gasp, no echo.)

The PocketPro has been superseded by better Readers from different companies, one of which is my PocketBook 360. It has taken over the versatile chores that my PocketPro used to do.

Most of us have now gone away, the playground empty, the swings rusted.

Maybe we just grew up.

Don

jenifer.ezread · 01-12-2011, 02:11 PM

Don,

I'm definitely here, still alive, and very much working for Astak. If discussion slows on the forum (or dies), there is no magical potion to revive it on my end. Of course, I'm sad to see the empty forum.

Astak is continuing to work on their eBook reading devices, but things have slowed, mostly because of those mysterious troubles I keep alluding to. Our EZ Read site is going strong and incredibly active, you can see the whole team (including me) on our Facebook team at the Las Vegas CES show: http://www.facebook.com/ezreadbookstore

The eBook reading device market is a massive challenge for anyone selling in the US. Kindle and their kind are losing money on devices, and getting it back using their proprietary format restrictions and eBookstore. (In my opinion, it stinks to be a Kindle owner and find out I can't download my favorite author's ePub, etc.) But they are the Big Boys in the market. The Big Brothers, even.

Anyways, I'm sure you all have your own opinions on the state of the forum. But just to let you know, I'm still here, on everyday to help if I can.

Jenifer

aceflor · 01-12-2011, 03:30 PM

Jenifer,

This is pathetic, and you are now doing more damage. Mentioning those "mysterious troubles" is doing nothing good to Astak reputation (if any left at all by now), and speaking badly of a competitor has never been a very elegant thing to do, but now under the focus that Astak has completely failed their customer base, it is also a slap in their face. Those customers would have been far better off buying a Kindle. Not only Astak's communication, but since today also your own communication, have reached the point where indeed if those are the only things you find to say, then don't say anything at all!

daffy4u · 01-12-2011, 03:41 PM

Jenifer, you don't need to Kindle bash to promote your product. You never know who might be a future customer. I'm very disappointed that you feel the need to lower yourself like that and reflect negatively on your company. You should be more mature.

SaraD · 01-12-2011, 05:27 PM

Question - will the Astak forum move to the "More E-Book Readers" area with its own listing like BeBook and Oynx, or be grouped with the Hanlin eBook area? It would be good if the existing threads for "how do I..." questions are still available for users.

While I've been expecting this for several months it is still sad.

kdf9511 · 01-12-2011, 05:41 PM

I agree with you Don. This forum does seem to be dead. I haven't posted here in a while since I got my PP working the way I wanted it to but I do swing by and check the forums a couple of times a week. I have been doing a lot more forum reading lately since my daughter deceded she wanted a reader and had saved the money for one. I was ready to order another PP just for her but couldn't order one. Now my son has decided he wants one and once again I am stuck for what to get him.

I bought a Sony PRS600 for her and got it monday and still haven't been able to read a book on it yet. I was up all hours of the night last night just trying to get books loaded on the sd card and formated so there was some semblence of order. 600 books later I poped the card in the reader and find out I still have a lot of work to do.

Now with my Astak I just tossed them on the card and was ready to read in about 10 min.

So it looks like I am back looking for a new one again.....

daffy4u · 01-12-2011, 05:46 PM

kdf9511,

Have you tried using Calibre and plugboard templates to create and organize the collections for the 600?

kdf9511 · 01-12-2011, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

kdf9511,

Have you tried using Calibre and plugboard templates to create and organize the collections for the 600?

No, I haven't played with Calilbre much other than to convert some .lit formated books. My library has over 25K books in multiple formats and would take forever to import into Calilbre and sort. That's one thing I loved aobut the Astaks and why I bought one. Just drag and drop folders onto an SD card and off you go, no dealing with meta data or series. Just name your files and your golden.

GA Russell · 01-12-2011, 11:36 PM

kdf, have you considered a jetBook Lite for your son? It's inexpensive and looks like it would meet your needs with no effort.

Newegg.com sells them.

bbqncigars · 01-13-2011, 02:04 AM

It looks like the PocketBook readers are the only thing out there that are close to the PP. I am disheartened about this forum's decline.

HarryT · 01-13-2011, 03:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbqncigars

It looks like the PocketBook readers are the only thing out there that are close to the PP. I am disheartened about this forum's decline.

If you want the forum to stop declining, post to it. It's a self-evident thing to say, but a forum consists of its users' posts.

kdf9511 · 01-13-2011, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GA Russell

kdf, have you considered a jetBook Lite for your son? It's inexpensive and looks like it would meet your needs with no effort.

Newegg.com sells them.

Yea I have thought about those. I would rather have an E-Ink screen though.

Solicitous · 01-13-2011, 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenifer.ezread

The eBook reading device market is a massive challenge for anyone selling in the US. Kindle and their kind are losing money on devices, and getting it back using their proprietary format restrictions and eBookstore. (In my opinion, it stinks to be a Kindle owner and find out I can't download my favorite author's ePub, etc.) But they are the Big Boys in the market. The Big Brothers, even.

I don't want to come across rude but I personally would be rather careful with making statements like that. Other than some people at Amazon, no-one knows the cost to manufacture a Kindle; all that we do know for certain is they sell them from $139US. By saying "Kindle and their kind" I assume you are referring to other sellers such as Kobo, B&N, Sony? Well whilst each of those have their own formats they support the epub standard, so buyers are not just locked into their stores.

I agree with others that have posted, talking negatively about the competition is not very professional, especially making blanket statements that everyone is losing money on their devices and making up for it by selling ebooks. Does Astak not have an ebookstore? Link a device in with ezread and become competitive then.

neilmarr · 01-13-2011, 06:03 AM

Hya, KDF. Over the past couple of years, I've found Sony-Calibre to be a marriage made in heaven: a perfect match. I've not tried to do this since, but when I first downloaded Calibre I seem to remember uploading 150 or so of my own publishing house's titles in a single batch. Took only a few minutes, as I recall. Have you tried multiple-importing of your collection? Cheers. Neil

aceflor · 01-13-2011, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I don't want to come across rude but I personally would be rather careful with making statements like that. Other than some people at Amazon, no-one knows the cost to manufacture a Kindle; all that we do know for certain is they sell them from $139US. By saying "Kindle and their kind" I assume you are referring to other sellers such as Kobo, B&N, Sony? Well whilst each of those have their own formats they support the epub standard, so buyers are not just locked into their stores.

I agree with others that have posted, talking negatively about the competition is not very professional, especially making blanket statements that everyone is losing money on their devices and making up for it by selling ebooks. Does Astak not have an ebookstore? Link a device in with ezread and become competitive then.

Well, apparently Astak is really looking forward to being sued by Amazon, because as a
matter of fact the statement is not only unprofessional but puts Astak in a dangerous position on a legal point of view. I was never a great fan of Robert, but he knew what he was doing / saying. Jenifer, if you have any sense, you should edit your post.

01-12-2011, 07:37 AM	#1
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 21,594 Karma: 6945377 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: San Borja (Lima), Peru Device: Pcktbk 360; Kindle Paperwhite (WiFi)/ Fire HD; nook STR & Col; KoboGlo	The Day The Forum Died: Rest in Peace As a PocketPro owner it saddens me to see a Forum die, but that is apparently what has happened. I've "retired" my PocketPro from active use - mainly because there is no longer any sense of community here, which is a valuable asset to owning any ebook Reader where one can participate in varied discussions about the joys and challenges of owning a new piece of technology. There are no new reports from jenifer, either; in fact, one can legitimately question whether or not she is still employed by Astak. ("Hello, Jenifer: How are you today?" There is no friendly return, no gasp, no echo.) The PocketPro has been superseded by better Readers from different companies, one of which is my PocketBook 360. It has taken over the versatile chores that my PocketPro used to do. Most of us have now gone away, the playground empty, the swings rusted. Maybe we just grew up. Don __________________ “How to Write the First 3 Paragraphs of YOUR Indie Novel” - by Max Waxwelp 1) Always write 3 sentences of exposition; 2) now create some dialogue, preferably no more than 2 sentences; and 3) make certain the dialogue is either inane or humorous. Example: “Bob, I did not know you wore yellow suspenders,” Sally remarked. “Gee, Sally, those are not suspenders. I am wearing yellow underwear today,” Bob revealed. The dialogue above will help produce at least 100 more pages of dialogue.

01-12-2011, 03:30 PM	#3
aceflor Constant Angel Posts: 2,287 Karma: 39581864 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: where the sun lives, or so they say Device: This one, and that one too	Jenifer, This is pathetic, and you are now doing more damage. Mentioning those "mysterious troubles" is doing nothing good to Astak reputation (if any left at all by now), and speaking badly of a competitor has never been a very elegant thing to do, but now under the focus that Astak has completely failed their customer base, it is also a slap in their face. Those customers would have been far better off buying a Kindle. Not only Astak's communication, but since today also your own communication, have reached the point where indeed if those are the only things you find to say, then don't say anything at all! __________________ My Goodreads page "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much." Jackie O "Comedy is tragedy, plus time" Woody Allen Last edited by aceflor; 01-12-2011 at 03:33 PM.

01-13-2011, 06:03 AM	#14
neilmarr neilmarr Posts: 7,233 Karma: 5881759 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Monaco-Menton, France Device: sony	Hya, KDF. Over the past couple of years, I've found Sony-Calibre to be a marriage made in heaven: a perfect match. I've not tried to do this since, but when I first downloaded Calibre I seem to remember uploading 150 or so of my own publishing house's titles in a single batch. Took only a few minutes, as I recall. Have you tried multiple-importing of your collection? Cheers. Neil __________________ BEWRITE BOOKS / BEWRITE BLOG

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01-12-2011, 02:11 PM	#2
jenifer.ezread EZ Read Team Member Posts: 114 Karma: 602 Join Date: Aug 2010 Device: EZ Read Pocket Pro	Don, I'm definitely here, still alive, and very much working for Astak. If discussion slows on the forum (or dies), there is no magical potion to revive it on my end. Of course, I'm sad to see the empty forum. Astak is continuing to work on their eBook reading devices, but things have slowed, mostly because of those mysterious troubles I keep alluding to. Our EZ Read site is going strong and incredibly active, you can see the whole team (including me) on our Facebook team at the Las Vegas CES show: http://www.facebook.com/ezreadbookstore The eBook reading device market is a massive challenge for anyone selling in the US. Kindle and their kind are losing money on devices, and getting it back using their proprietary format restrictions and eBookstore. (In my opinion, it stinks to be a Kindle owner and find out I can't download my favorite author's ePub, etc.) But they are the Big Boys in the market. The Big Brothers, even. Anyways, I'm sure you all have your own opinions on the state of the forum. But just to let you know, I'm still here, on everyday to help if I can. Jenifer

01-12-2011, 03:41 PM	#4
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,523 Karma: 1609085 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: K1, KTSO, KFHD, K3, KPW, KDXG, HP Touchpadx2	Jenifer, you don't need to Kindle bash to promote your product. You never know who might be a future customer. I'm very disappointed that you feel the need to lower yourself like that and reflect negatively on your company. You should be more mature.

01-12-2011, 05:27 PM	#5
SaraD Groupie Posts: 161 Karma: 2670 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Spokane, WA, USA Device: Sony 650	Question - will the Astak forum move to the "More E-Book Readers" area with its own listing like BeBook and Oynx, or be grouped with the Hanlin eBook area? It would be good if the existing threads for "how do I..." questions are still available for users. While I've been expecting this for several months it is still sad.

01-12-2011, 05:41 PM	#6
kdf9511 Madman With A Box Posts: 112 Karma: 324 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Western Oklahoma Device: Astak Pocket Pro	I agree with you Don. This forum does seem to be dead. I haven't posted here in a while since I got my PP working the way I wanted it to but I do swing by and check the forums a couple of times a week. I have been doing a lot more forum reading lately since my daughter deceded she wanted a reader and had saved the money for one. I was ready to order another PP just for her but couldn't order one. Now my son has decided he wants one and once again I am stuck for what to get him. I bought a Sony PRS600 for her and got it monday and still haven't been able to read a book on it yet. I was up all hours of the night last night just trying to get books loaded on the sd card and formated so there was some semblence of order. 600 books later I poped the card in the reader and find out I still have a lot of work to do. Now with my Astak I just tossed them on the card and was ready to read in about 10 min. So it looks like I am back looking for a new one again.....

01-12-2011, 05:46 PM	#7
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,523 Karma: 1609085 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: K1, KTSO, KFHD, K3, KPW, KDXG, HP Touchpadx2	kdf9511, Have you tried using Calibre and plugboard templates to create and organize the collections for the 600?

01-12-2011, 11:36 PM	#9
GA Russell Argos win the Grey Cup! Posts: 3,367 Karma: 11423475 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: jetBook Lite, Libre Pro	kdf, have you considered a jetBook Lite for your son? It's inexpensive and looks like it would meet your needs with no effort. Newegg.com sells them.

01-13-2011, 02:04 AM	#10
bbqncigars PDA dino Posts: 54 Karma: 527072 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Palm IIIx, PP, Rooted NC, Kindle	It looks like the PocketBook readers are the only thing out there that are close to the PP. I am disheartened about this forum's decline.


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