[firekat]

I would not categorize the people that use/own the iLiad to two basic groups.

Being on the periphery of this debacle as I am not a hacker I can tell you some things that I have noted.

The way I see it there are people that are totally satisfied with the device and are the "it does what I want and it's really great". There are the hackers that have the wherewithal and ability to get it to do what they want, There are the frustrated hackers that do not receive what they construe as enough support for their pursuits. And there are those that are totally dissatisfied.

To me I think that there is a specific "blindness" in all of these. I see the totally satisfied as justifying their purchase of a device that is no way close to meeting iRex's initial design goals/schedule. The hackers that get it to function in the manner that they want live in a world of CLI and directory structure that is bewildering and puzzling to those that are not familiar with it. There is an edge of conceit above those that do not have those skills. Then there are the hackers like scotty that wanted the device to be opened to them entirely, so that they could define the device over and beyond what the initial concept that iRex had for it. I had the sense of frustration with them because they were hobbled in doing what they wanted to with the device.

My opinion being a person that is relatively technically proficient but not a developer/hacker is that in the current state the iLiad does not even come close to the competition. This is not because it does not have the potential to have advanced features, it's because it's basic underpinnings are flawed. The absurdly long boot time and questionable battery life are some of the primary problems. I find for such a short period of time and a small amount of sales an inordinate amount of reports of device failures including what appears to be a very fragile screen. I have visited the eFlybook site and have noted the same discontent that can be seen here, and that was sold as a fully functional device!

The hackers that are able to get the device to do what they want are talented, but unless they set things up so that the people that don't have their skills can use it, it make no point to the rest of us. yokos is a fundamental player in making the work that scotty did on the device available to a wider range of people. His ( I am assuming gender here) specific point to point instructions made it so that the relatively technically unsophisticated person could try the new development processes.

scotty and others worked in a world that was mostly inaccessible to the laity. I think that he pushed forward and gave insight to the iRex team in that he offered a fresh perspective. To me, iRex gives me the impression that they see the iLiad as their child and they are not very willing to let anyone tell them what they can/cannot or should do with the device. I got a sense that there are definite cultural differences in the inter dynamics between scotty and iRex. To me there seemed to be an old world/new world rift.

I try to maintain an objectivity with the device, but as time goes by I get more and more frustrated with it. I purchased it specifically as a device that would hold documents that I could access without starting up a laptop. The idea was that I could use it on my job. I knew some of the limitations of the device. I also saw that there was a SDK being made available and it was my impression that there were some people that would get the functionality of the device that iRex was not willing to do. This would be most specifically be being able to access the internet. Not having that available on a device that has wireless built into it is patently absurd and shows conceit that iRex feels that you should only connect to the iDS through their device. Overall that was not the biggest point of purchase for me and is just an example of how I feel that the device is hobbled to a certain extent.

The bigger points to me is that I currently have a device that has limited functionality. With the slow boot time, limited battery life, no bookmark support in PDF's, usage for the intended purpose for which it was purchased is cumbersome at best. Mostly it sits in my flight bag ( in a rather robust protective cover) and I dread having to pull it out and suffer through the start up and navigation times. I get concerned as when it will possibly drop dead since I see so many reports of problems on this and the iRex site. When I purchased it I knew that it was still under development, the initial release information was that it would be ready for prime time in September of 2006. We are coming up on nearly half a year after that date and we have only received incremental improvements. I will have to state that in some cases some of the improvements are impressive and are certainly welcome. The thing is that upgrades are coming at a snail's pace and unless there is a revolutionary update in the wings I fear that the device will just be passed by further developments and improvements in hardware by other companies.

The iLiad represents different things to different people. In the basic function of being a reading device for other than reference material or more specifically recreational reading I am sure it is more than adequate. For functionality over and beyond that the device is not up to speed. It was this promised advanced functionality that swayed people more to the iLiad than the Sony Reader. Right now I see only one benefit of the iLiad over the Sony; that is the bigger screen. Until the iLiad is "finished" it is clearly not a player in the ebook device world.

I would really be interested in knowing how many iLiads have been sold in the B2B environment, what they are being used as, and just how satisfied these customers are.

In conclusion I am trying to maintain an optimism about the iLiad, after all I paid a pile of money for it and I would really like to see some real return on my investment.

I am not intending this post to offend anyone, it is just my observations.

Good Luck To Us All!