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rmeister0 · 09-29-2006, 02:59 PM

"I feel like the Sony Reader is a good compromise (compared to the Illiad which is its only real competitor at the moment), much like the iPod was."

Certainly people don't need perfect to make a product successful, they just need "good enough", which is a horribly subjective judgement. For what I want, the iPod is good enough; for some music purchases the iTunes store, DRM and all, is good enough. Obviously rlauzon would disagree with the judgement.

Paper media will not be replaced, it will be supplemented, in the same way that radio didn't destroy movies, television didn't destroy radio, cable didn't destroy television, et al.

However, and this is a big however, the iPod can be successfully used by any consumer without ever buying a single track from the iTunes store. To use the Sony Reader that is going to be a lot harder, particularly without any native html support.

I'd also like to point out that in spite Apple's ridiculous market share with the iPod, there are competing products from other manufacturers that consumers can choose from, and if you are ripping your own CDs you can easily make those files compatible with all those other devices...except Sony's original DMP

But what have the early adopters already complained about? No LIT, Palm, MobiPocket, whatever support. And what happens in four years when Sony decides to abandon the Reader because it wants to focus on core profitable markets? You won't be copying those BeB files to your Iliad, that's for sure.

This is not a market that already exists begging for product. This is a market that is going to have to be created and carefully nurtured over a long period of time, but manufacturers just don't seem to have that kind of patience anymore. Maybe the Reader will be the next iPod, maybe it will be the next MiniDisc. It is too early to tell.

09-29-2006, 02:59 PM	#23
rmeister0 Addict Posts: 270 Karma: 298 Join Date: Mar 2005	"I feel like the Sony Reader is a good compromise (compared to the Illiad which is its only real competitor at the moment), much like the iPod was." Certainly people don't need perfect to make a product successful, they just need "good enough", which is a horribly subjective judgement. For what I want, the iPod is good enough; for some music purchases the iTunes store, DRM and all, is good enough. Obviously rlauzon would disagree with the judgement. Paper media will not be replaced, it will be supplemented, in the same way that radio didn't destroy movies, television didn't destroy radio, cable didn't destroy television, et al. However, and this is a big however, the iPod can be successfully used by any consumer without ever buying a single track from the iTunes store. To use the Sony Reader that is going to be a lot harder, particularly without any native html support. I'd also like to point out that in spite Apple's ridiculous market share with the iPod, there are competing products from other manufacturers that consumers can choose from, and if you are ripping your own CDs you can easily make those files compatible with all those other devices...except Sony's original DMP But what have the early adopters already complained about? No LIT, Palm, MobiPocket, whatever support. And what happens in four years when Sony decides to abandon the Reader because it wants to focus on core profitable markets? You won't be copying those BeB files to your Iliad, that's for sure. This is not a market that already exists begging for product. This is a market that is going to have to be created and carefully nurtured over a long period of time, but manufacturers just don't seem to have that kind of patience anymore. Maybe the Reader will be the next iPod, maybe it will be the next MiniDisc. It is too early to tell.