Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
My problem is that the Sony 500 (an ebook reader) was out of production at the time the chart was released and had been for months.
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Consider:
The comparison chart was probably marketing material made before the jetBook's release. The jetBook was released about 5-6 months (late October 2007 --> March 2008) after the Sony PRS-505. It's not unreasonable to give Ectaco the benefit of a doubt: perhaps the PRS-505 was brand new on the market or not yet released when they published the chart. Just take a look at upcoming devices and technologies -- Plastic Logic, Pixel Qi, Readius... how long will these companies have had promotional material on their website by the time the product is actually released? 6 months? A year? More? Unless someone knows the
exact date that chart was published, it's hard to made a judgment in that respect (other than, "by golly, they need to update that old webpage!")
In addition, just because the PRS-500 may have been
discontinued, doesn't mean that it was not currently in use by a variety of people! Not everyone is going to run out and sell X electronic device to buy X.2, the newest version. The jetBook clearly shows the PRS-500 on the chart... why not leave it as it stands? It was at least a
current device at the jetBook's release date, perhaps
the Sony device when the chart was made.
As for the DRM and BB&B complaint... therein lies the woes of the entire eBook industry. You might as well complain that people who buy a Sony eBook reader from Staples are going to be disappointed that they can't use books from Amazon. "But I thought Amazon was a eBook store and this can read eBooks!" "But I thought it was just like the Kindle, but Sony!" What about people who buy books only to find they can't loan them to friends? DRM is a problem, but there's no reason that ECTACO needs to withhold their reader from a US B&M store because prospective users don't know this. I would definitely do the research before spending $200.
It reminds me of some of the Eee PC complaints: as you probably know, many Eee PC's were sold with either Linux or Windows (some only Linux). What of the poor consumers who bought a Linux model from Target or Best Buy and found they couldn't run Windows-based software? Well, of course, they returned the product and complained loudly. Does this mean ASUS was unethical to sell Linux-based netbooks in a retail chain? No, of course not. It means the consumers need to research what they buy before they buy it! The negative "D'oh, it's not Windows!" reviews irritate me to no end.
