[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by FragFrog

Your whole argument is based on the assumptation that adding functionality will somehow decrease existing functionality....

Close... my primary argument is really coming from the opposite direction, that simplicity and focus are virtues routinely lost in the world of electronics. (The secondary argument is that certain additions impede the basic functionality.)

Specialization isn't always required or optimal. But ultimately I am asserting that a device that is made for reading books will benefit greatly by focusing on reading books. What a concept.

As to detraction, yes some functions will degrade the benefit of an ereader. Calendar reminders and integrated email will interrupt reading. Background apps -- even the ability to run a lot of background processes -- will require more powerful (and power-hungry) hardware, which will increase costs and reduce battery life. Extended text entry will need a much better keyboard and pointer. Internet-based functions will need more bandwidth, which increases connectivity costs and/or power consumption. Video and a lot of other apps, in addition to yet again draining power, won't work well with eInk or without a backlight. And the development costs are limited, especially in a field with margins as thin as books -- and, as you seemingly pointed out, electronics.

Originally Posted by FragFrog

I do not use the 'Text memo' function on my PRS-600, does this mean Sony should remove it? Others don't use the annotate option, does this mean Sony should remove it as well? And keep in mind these are core functionalities of the device...

*cough* Sony Pocket Edition, aka PRS-300 *cough*

And again, the standard I'm using is "directly benefits the reading process." I personally don't annotate so I wouldn't miss it -- but I fully accept that as critical for many readers and advocate its improvement.

Originally Posted by FragFrog

Any decent programmer could create several of the kind of functions we're talking about here in a day.

Sure, but as any decent programmer -- especially one who has been through development cycles where the end-users or managers keep piling on "just one more function, c'mon this next one will take you 5 minutes" -- knows, more code = more development time, more bugs, more customer support, more manuals etc.

And while you personally may not want or need a calendar on your ereader to sync, almost everyone else will desperately want that sync. That means writing your own conduits (not easy or always an option) or licensing something like Intellisync (increasing your costs and development time) or hoping the vendor doesn't rewrite something that breaks what you've done (*cough* Apple).

I.e. you have one or two trivial requests. Dmaul has one or two different trivial requests. Ankh wants a full-blown Linux device. Where do you draw the line? At what point are you adding so much stuff that the developers lose focus? Or the marketers pull their hair out, trying to explain that it's not a PDA and it's not a netbook, but it's supposed to be for reading books?

So you start out with something small and simple and trivial, and in classic fashion it turns into a big project. I'd rather they work on improving the reading-related functions -- and making it the best reading device that they can -- than turn an ereader into a mediocre PDA, or a netbook with a crappy screen and miserable keyboard.