Quote:
Originally Posted by Robertb
Dear Shel:
On next Monday, February 2, 2009, Astak will have a PayPal option up on our www.mobiebook.com website that the entire world can use. I apologize for our stupidity on not getting this done sooner... but we are still new at this.
I know you and others have brought this up and I appreciate the comments. I try to run Astak from a friendly and open standpoint. We are not a huge name in the world (but have been in business since 1992). Sony and Amazon dwarf us. We just have a better product, are trying to go open format as much as possible, and are not fond of DRM. People will NOT buy the EZ Reader or Mentor lines because I am friendly... but our willingness to work fairly and decently with people is our edge. We take your ideas and try to build with your wants in mind. In short: we try to sell what YOU want and not what we have come out with. Because of this, we think our products are better designed, more user friendly, and have the features people want. Witness the new EZ Reader PRO which is in a class by itself. Solving the Canada payment problem quickly is our way.
Formats supported by the EZ Reader are: pdf, doc, jpg/bmp, txt, mp3, pdb, html, lit, and prc. This should be exact to BeBook but let me know.
Also: Astak IS coming out with accessories!! We are finally tackling the issue of lighting for the screen, finally coming out with several new top-shelf leather cases (always with magnetic clasp), and developing a solar charger. It will take about 2 months or so to see them... but they will be up on our website when we have them. Other ideas are planned as well. I am also trying to slide our accessories and our devices more towards the women market. Women buy about 40% of all eBooks and I want units and accessories that show a more feminine and jazzy styling for women. New device colors are a good start; but I would like to go beyond this. We are working on that!
Robert B |
Robert, thank you for your reply! From the BeBook site: - Supported file formats: pdf, mobi, prc, epub, lit, txt, fb2, doc, html, rtf, djvu, wol, ppt, mbp, chm, bmp, jpg, png, gif, tif, rar, zip, mp3.
I am very glad to hear about Astak's upcoming accessory line, and I think you are making a wise decision to gear some of those accessories toward women. Although function beats form for me, that isn't the case for everyone, and even I am as female as the next one and if the functional is also pretty I'm all for it!
That is one of the BeBook's advantages right now for me, it comes with a cover, USB cables, and earphones. And right now that price is $279, which unfortunately is cheaper than the promotion bundle at Mobieread for $329 which includes: ‧ AC Power Adapter
‧ Stereo Earbuds
‧ Wrist Leash
‧ User’s Manual
‧ Carrying Leather Case X 1 with Magnetic Clasp
( Retail Price USD$19.99)
‧ Two(2) 1GB SD Card
(Retail price $12.84)
Pre-loaded with 100 Classics Titles
‧ SD Card Reader
(Retail Price USD $ 9.99)
When you add the extra stuff, however, it's comparable, though since I don't need the SD card reader, I have most of the classics titles already, and a couple of SD cards already also, I don't know if it's justifiable for me. Fifty dollars is fifty dollars...
I'm going to assume from your lack of reply as to when the colored cases will be available for order that you don't have this information as of yet. The other thing that BeBook's site has that Mobieread does not is the firmware updates for download, and very easily found. That is a huge plus.
In conclusion, I think you downplay your friendliness and openness, RobertB. I believe if the other companies had spokespersons like you who were willing to speak up and answer questions and maintain a policy of openness and customer service like you are doing, their sales would skyrocket. That is a huge, huge, huge, advantage you have going, and I hope you continue that policy. To be honest, Amazon's policy of being mysterious has pretty much turned me off. I hate speculating and waiting and speculating some more, but that's just me.
Shel