|
Aside from bad editing and terrible xhtml markup on the part of publishers/editors, I'm of the opinion that the issue is inadequate software in the readers, and bad ergonomic design.
Most don't fully support CSS; most have terrible interfaces; very little thought goes into improving usability. It's all about getting the thing to market. Not producing a great piece of kit that renders beautifully, feels great, and supports open standards well.
How many clones of other hardware are there? Very little creative thought, even less commitment to excellence. How many even lazily use the same software without improving it? (ie: ADE, FBReader etc.) They're all just trying to get a piece of the money pie, and praying that they somehow become the default prime mover when formats somehow settle in. Typical mimicry.
Hardly a surprise that the experience of using them is so poor when virtually no imagination has gone into developing them.
PocketBook seems to be the only company since NuvoMedia that has thought about usability, with their 360. The Jetbook at least took another hardware tack, although they seem to be caught in format creep, and utterly failed on the HID element.
It's like no one has heard of Apple, or Google, or understood the lessons of simplicity and excellence that allow them to succeed. They're not difficult to understand, just require commitment. Which you won't get from most people, and so the field is polluted with mediocrity -- and that mediocrity becomes the standard.
m a r
|