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A few years ago there were a slew of eINK devices that had no formal connection to the actual selling of eBooks. They cost around $400. Most of the are now gone. There is no way that any reader can be competitive at the currently acceptable price point without a heavy reliance on selling books and making money that way.
We read all the time that Amazon is willing to lose money on their devices (eINK and Fire) because they know that they will drive sales to them--not just of books but also clothing, hardware, etc.
I think it is disingenuous to expect an affordable device while at the same time expecting the selling aspect to be hidden away. I am happy that there are no ads on my home screen and I am glad that the home screen has a clean look. Nothing forces me to click on any of the home screen links that take me into the commercial part of the device.
If there are eInk readers out there that do not offend you by integrating selling into the reader experience, then buy one of those.
In the meantime, this is a commercial product and it is not Build a Bear. We do not each get to redesign the user experience to meet our individual preferences. And while you consider this, also remember that Kobo listened to a huge number of people who hated the short list and asked for "real" bookshelves. They also hated the carousel, which held the hidden links to the store functions.
I am sure that Kobo is paying attention to posts from folks who have different opinions about this. I am also pretty sure that if changes are going to be made based on these comments, they will not be the first changes we see. I'd much rather have them work on the issues like funky sideloaded fonts and slow ePUB page changes, myself.
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