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lordvetinari2 · 09-29-2006, 01:15 PM

I did not expect Sony to run out of Readers so soon, and for so long. ISTR that some high suit in Sony US said they were planning to be the iPod of ebooks, with a similar market share. And now they can only start with 130 Readers? Sony, Sony, Sony. You can get ahead of your rivals in the ebook market, but you don't have enough units. There's the XBOX 360 from last year, the Wii will be here soon, and you get your PS3 out the last, and the more expensive one, and with nowhere near enough units. You clearly like to shoot yourself in the foot. And now you don't let non-US residents buy your Reader. Don't tell me it's copyright restrictions, because that's the ebooks, not the hardware itself.

I have been putting my reading for months, and just can't take it any longer. I have just placed a €150 order in Amazon UK; 1 DVD (Jim Henson pack) and a whole lotta pbooks. That's money Sony ain't seeing from me, because it looks like they will not let me buy ebooks from their Connect Store, as I am a filthy foreigner.

Don't get me wrong, I will buy the Reader sooner rather than later, one way or the other, but buying ebooks would be just too difficult from over here. What shall I do? I will buy the pbooks (more dead trees) and get the ebooks versions by my own means. If that's illegal, I don't care. I have paid for them, so I will bloody well read them wherever I wanna. And you can bite my shiny-- Well, you get the picture.

I would rather have a cheap ebook renting/subscription service (inspired in a little thing called "Library"), than pay for a book I will likely only read once. That's the $1 book rlauzon so heartily mentions. When I want to own a book, then I can pay as much as 50% the value of the pbook, but that's all. It's not only paper cost we're cutting down here: there's printing, distributing, middle man, etc. The current ebook model is simply stupid, and I am not biting the bait.

So, to sum up. Yes, the Reader looks perfect to me (if there's backlighting, there's eye stress, so no backlighting thanks), apart from the fact that they won't let me buy one. No, I don't care about DRM'ed ebooks.

And please don't say editorialists are not objective. There's news, and there's editorials. Editorials are someone's opinion. They are not biased, they just have an opinion. So kudos to Bob and the rest of the editorialists (including NatCh) for all the hard work.

09-29-2006, 01:15 PM	#19
lordvetinari2 Zealot Posts: 137 Karma: 61 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gijón, Spain Device: Kindle 3G+WiFi & Galaxy Note	I did not expect Sony to run out of Readers so soon, and for so long. ISTR that some high suit in Sony US said they were planning to be the iPod of ebooks, with a similar market share. And now they can only start with 130 Readers? Sony, Sony, Sony. You can get ahead of your rivals in the ebook market, but you don't have enough units. There's the XBOX 360 from last year, the Wii will be here soon, and you get your PS3 out the last, and the more expensive one, and with nowhere near enough units. You clearly like to shoot yourself in the foot. And now you don't let non-US residents buy your Reader. Don't tell me it's copyright restrictions, because that's the ebooks, not the hardware itself. I have been putting my reading for months, and just can't take it any longer. I have just placed a €150 order in Amazon UK; 1 DVD (Jim Henson pack) and a whole lotta pbooks. That's money Sony ain't seeing from me, because it looks like they will not let me buy ebooks from their Connect Store, as I am a filthy foreigner. Don't get me wrong, I will buy the Reader sooner rather than later, one way or the other, but buying ebooks would be just too difficult from over here. What shall I do? I will buy the pbooks (more dead trees) and get the ebooks versions by my own means. If that's illegal, I don't care. I have paid for them, so I will bloody well read them wherever I wanna. And you can bite my shiny-- Well, you get the picture. I would rather have a cheap ebook renting/subscription service (inspired in a little thing called "Library"), than pay for a book I will likely only read once. That's the $1 book rlauzon so heartily mentions. When I want to own a book, then I can pay as much as 50% the value of the pbook, but that's all. It's not only paper cost we're cutting down here: there's printing, distributing, middle man, etc. The current ebook model is simply stupid, and I am not biting the bait. So, to sum up. Yes, the Reader looks perfect to me (if there's backlighting, there's eye stress, so no backlighting thanks), apart from the fact that they won't let me buy one. No, I don't care about DRM'ed ebooks. And please don't say editorialists are not objective. There's news, and there's editorials. Editorials are someone's opinion. They are not biased, they just have an opinion. So kudos to Bob and the rest of the editorialists (including NatCh) for all the hard work.