MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - BusinessWeek gives Sony Reader a 3.5/5 in second round

dhbailey · 04-07-2007, 07:41 AM

First concerning the contrast -- I've had my reader for several weeks now and can only say that I don't have any problem with the contrast. I've been able to read it in all the same ambient lighting conditions I can read dead-tree books in, and I need additional lighting in all the same situations I need additional lighting for dead-tree books.

Second, concerning the Macs -- I didn't read anything anti-Mac in Harry's posts, just a pragmatic outlook on the computing marketplace.

I would add, however, that my experience has been that Mac users are more likely to be early-adopters of new technology and I agree that Sony is missing a potential huge expansion of sales of the reader to those who only use Macs and who don't really want to install Windows on their Macs.

While I can understand the economics of the situation which would say that Sony's action in not bothering with a Mac version of Connect is likely to have little effect on their corporate bottom line, I also can see that if they made things easier for Mac users, there would be many more Readers in people's hands, and when all the PC users see their Mac friends using the Reader, they might be more likely consider buying one for themselves.

The average home-user of the PC has only a few concerns, none of which is addressed by the Sony Reader or the Connect software:
1) can I access iTunes?
2) can I get to YouTube?
3) can I do instant messaging?
4) can I get to MySpace?
5) can I do my e-mail?

The average PC user, in my experience, is just as unlikely to buy the Sony Reader as is a Mac user. The Reader is definitely not for everybody and the more Sony can do to raise it's profile in the computing world's eyes, the better for all of us.

And it's also my estimation that if PG were not around, there would be fewer Readers sold -- mine wouldn't have been bought, at least. I do hope Sony realizes the debt it owes to the presence of so many books that can't be read away from a computer on anything other than a hand-held e-book reader (palm, pocketPC or Sony Reader) and makes a sizable donation to help support the continued survival of PG.

My next great wish for e-books would be that more computer programming books become available at more reasonable prices. There is much I want to investigate in this field but I can't justify dropping $50 for a book which is just to pique my curiosity or is a different slant on web-site design or html coding from books I already own.

I think that there is a huge potential for technical books, if Sony would just pitch their Reader to such publishers.

04-07-2007, 07:41 AM	#22
dhbailey Guru Posts: 604 Karma: 733 Join Date: Mar 2007 Device: HP iPAQ211 / PRS 500, 700 and 505	First concerning the contrast -- I've had my reader for several weeks now and can only say that I don't have any problem with the contrast. I've been able to read it in all the same ambient lighting conditions I can read dead-tree books in, and I need additional lighting in all the same situations I need additional lighting for dead-tree books. Second, concerning the Macs -- I didn't read anything anti-Mac in Harry's posts, just a pragmatic outlook on the computing marketplace. I would add, however, that my experience has been that Mac users are more likely to be early-adopters of new technology and I agree that Sony is missing a potential huge expansion of sales of the reader to those who only use Macs and who don't really want to install Windows on their Macs. While I can understand the economics of the situation which would say that Sony's action in not bothering with a Mac version of Connect is likely to have little effect on their corporate bottom line, I also can see that if they made things easier for Mac users, there would be many more Readers in people's hands, and when all the PC users see their Mac friends using the Reader, they might be more likely consider buying one for themselves. The average home-user of the PC has only a few concerns, none of which is addressed by the Sony Reader or the Connect software: 1) can I access iTunes? 2) can I get to YouTube? 3) can I do instant messaging? 4) can I get to MySpace? 5) can I do my e-mail? The average PC user, in my experience, is just as unlikely to buy the Sony Reader as is a Mac user. The Reader is definitely not for everybody and the more Sony can do to raise it's profile in the computing world's eyes, the better for all of us. And it's also my estimation that if PG were not around, there would be fewer Readers sold -- mine wouldn't have been bought, at least. I do hope Sony realizes the debt it owes to the presence of so many books that can't be read away from a computer on anything other than a hand-held e-book reader (palm, pocketPC or Sony Reader) and makes a sizable donation to help support the continued survival of PG. My next great wish for e-books would be that more computer programming books become available at more reasonable prices. There is much I want to investigate in this field but I can't justify dropping $50 for a book which is just to pique my curiosity or is a different slant on web-site design or html coding from books I already own. I think that there is a huge potential for technical books, if Sony would just pitch their Reader to such publishers.