I was very excited about the iLiad when I first read the specs for it. 1024x768, 16-shade greyscale, pdf compatibility, and of course eInk!! I saw a new promising ereader, and all was good.
But then, problems began to arise. (Don't they always?) Issues with the software made me to decide to wait until the "official" consumer release. I've been an early adopter several times, and decided this time I would try the patient route. I've been reading ebooks on handhelds since my Palm IIIx. Then on my Zaurus, then my HieBook, Zaurus again (contrast was pretty bad on the HieBook), then most recently, I picked up a Dell Axim x51v. Wow, 640x480 in a 3 .5 inch screen is fantastic for text!!
But then I heard about the iLiad through the blog at teleread.org. It all seemed so promising. Eink technology, high res screen, long battery life, some open document formats and even PDF! Sounded good at the time.
At the time...
Now it's out, the battery life is nowhere near the original quoted times, it's pretty slow, and the rendering technology seems not to be complete.
Well, I suppose that's to be expected, since it's not the official consumer release. But now, I'm hearing things I don't like. The remote kill thing discussed
here and
here. Then I've also read that iRex is not releasing the source for their OS implementation. If it's based on Linux, and it's being re-distributed, this is a big no-no. Maybe that issue was resolved, but if not....
In any case, I'm really pulling for this device to be everything it could be. I was disappointed with the REB-1100 and 1200 once gemstar took over. I'm hoping that iRex keeps it's focus in providing a good customer experience. I'll wait until the consumer release software version is out before passing final judgement, but what I'm seeing so far...
It makes me think iRex might be headed down the wrong path.
Am I being too cynical? What do you guys think?