Quote:
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.