Yes, WiFi is an important feature. Being a Sony Reader fan, this is the feature I would like most in the next generation Sony Reader. In fact, I am 99% sure all next gen Sony Readers will be WiFi enabled. That is if there is the next gen.
Why is WiFi important? It is important because the ideas about something to read often come to me in social settings. At work, in a coffee house, in a book store, while talking to people. To make myself a note I usually edit a draft gmail message on my Android phone. If I owned a network enabled reader it could have been an instant purchase. Amazon knows all there is to know about impulse purchases - they had their kindles network enabled from the very beginning.
It's hard to compare nooks to Sony, both have important advantages. It is only the beginning of the "season", but at the moment nook ST has more important advantages. What's so important? Android is so important! There are already FBReader, Cool Reader, Nomad Reader, Opera browser, and many games running on rooted ST.
Seriously, are there software advantages to the Sony Readers? Dictionaries? Even after 4 years of touch editions we still cannot add a custom dictionary to a Sony Reader. Several dictionary systems are supported on Android. I don't know if any have already been ported onto ST. Many Android applications don't even require any porting - they just run! The Sony PDF viewer is somewhat better at this time (cropping, page splitting, contrast settings), but the PDF viewing engine in both Sony and nook (and kindle) are Adobe's. Ability to change font and more size options on nook make it somewhat more advanced. Landscape mode in Sony Readers (except 9xx, which has the 2-column mode) is not very usable because of weird way of splitting pages. It is still better than no landscape mode at all, of course.
Hardware? Well, Sony is still building a better quality enclosure, but many people like side paging buttons, and Sony hasn't provided those since 505. Sony's enclosures have been getting progressively cheaper made and less sturdy - from 500 down to x50. Chances are the next gen enclosures will continue the slide towards less expensive materials.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poppaea
Americans want less features for less money, Europeans pay more for more features. Where is Sonys market? In the US, where readers are cheap because they are tied to big bookstores (Amazon & BN)? Or in the rest of the world, where there is no bookstore tying, but a demand for premium hardware?
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Absolute rubbish about Americans wanting fewer features, and the Europeans wanting more. Everyone wants more! Some people are willing to pay more (while others are not - even in Europe!). I happen to believe that Americans do get more at this time. And they will continue to be getting even more. We will probably see the new kindles soon, and hopefully the new Sony Readers.