Quote:
Originally Posted by RG1
I also think that Sony did it right. The built-in light is not so important to me, but the reading experience and the firmware is. Sony has the better reading experience and there are not so many bugs and glitches in the firmware. Kobo has put a lot of advertising in the firmware and each time they fix a bug, they will probably create two new ones.
Kobo will sell a lot of the glow light devices, but they will also burn a lot of money in their support department.
|
I would not buy a non-front-lit e-ink device for my personal use. If that is all Sony ever offers, I will not consider them for future purchases.
Though intriqued by the advantages of e-ink, I nonetheless opted for a tablet-based e-reader a year ago when I got my first e-reader. It was the front-lighting that finally convinced me a few weeks ago to buy an e-ink device for myself the first time. I did actually buy an e-ink reader for my partner a year ago, which was quickly returned to the store for a tablet-based one as non-front-lit e-ink didn't prove to work well with the lighting in our place.
I read in bed at night, and a reading light would be more distracting for my partner than my front-lit e-reader is. Light falling on the bezel, light falling off the sides of the device onto the bed, or light reflecting off the device and being converted into ambient light would not be good for us.
I'm not alone. There's a reason these devices are selling well; many consumers see value in the option of turning on front-lighting when they need it. Remember it's just another option, in a device full of them; do it right, and they'll sell well.
Kobo's done the hardware right*, therefore the premise that this thread was based on (that no one is doing the hardware right yet) is demonstrably false. If what you say about Sony having great hardware and great software** is true, then it seems like they might be a good candidate for also doing it right. In fact, doing a front-lit e-reader, and doing it better than the competition, might be just what they need to get their mojo back, since their marketshare has been falling in the face of Amazon's advance on the one hand, and bookstores aligning themselves with alternatives (Kobo, Nook) on the other hand.
I've been following e-readers avidly since they first were made commercially available in Canada a lot of years ago. Several times in the early days of e-reading I almost bought a Sony e-reader (for many years, before the launch of Kobo, Sony was the major player in e-readers at retail in Canada). But I stopped myself every time due to cost (back when they were more expensive) and the lack of an in-built lighting solution. I'm open to the Sony option, but front-lighting isn't a "nice to have" for me, it's absolutely essential in an e-ink device. I know not everyone will feel the same as me, but remember that e-readers are pushing past the die-hards and into the casual/mainstream market now; for example, in the past 18 months, e-ink e-reader penetration has gone from 4% of Canadians to 12% of Canadians owning them. These people are used to smartphones and tablets, and to many of them e-readers won't even make it onto their radar unless they have an integrated lighting solution of some sort.
I think it's a matter of when, not if, Sony attempts to deploy new front-lighting technology (I know they tried it without success years ago). But if they wait until it's mature, and being done right by competitors who are growing faster and tied to bigger retail networks who are pushing them harder, then Sony will just be one of the pack rather than seen as a leader (again, we're talking about the person on the street here, not the e-reading die-hards).
* Just because someone, somewhere, wasn't happy with their Glo doesn't mean the hardware isn't being done right; you'll never make 100% of people happy 100% of the time. The user complaints about the Glo on Mobileread have been pretty meagre compared to the accolades.
** You say it's the best, does it have "font weight" like the new Kobo firmware? That's a big feature for me. And you complain about ads, by which I'm guessing you mean reading recommendations? I've never seen an ad on either of my Kobos (reading recommendations to me is a feature; not one that everyone appreciates, but a feature nonetheless; if it were an ad for, say, The Gap, then I'd be pissed off
).