Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Large companies spent enormous amounts of money on user feedback before launching devices, and certainly do tailor them to the needs of the user. I suspect the problem is that users of forums such as this do not represent the "typical" user.
One much-discussed example: why do you suppose it is that the Sony Reader, like Windows Mobile, does not present the user with a full "hierarchical" view of the filing system when loading or saving files? Does anyone really believe that Sony or Microsoft are incapable of programming a hierarchical file system? Of course that's not the reason! Their market research has told that the hierarchical file system is confusing to the "man in the street", who finds a "flat" file list a lot easier to understand, so we get a flat file list. People then come on forums like this and say "why can't we have a hierarchical file system?", but we are not the "typical" user as far as Sony or Microsoft are concerned.
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I would hazard a guess and say they are underestimating their user base. And that they are dumbing down their devices to the point where they are less usable than they could or should be. I'm very glad that I started this topic because it is now clear to me that in addition to Sony's failure to support html, their use of a non-hierarchical filesystem will prevent me from buying one of their current readers.
Perhaps Sony and MS are mistaking the man in the street with a 4th grade student. I think that when the majority of kids get beyond this early age they do understand the concept of files and folders (if not the term hierachical), and the value of using the latter to conveniently and efficiently store and access the former. At least mine do. It does not make sense to me for Windows Mobile or any other OS to provide the capability of supporting gigabytes of space, yet not provide the ability to efficiently store things in that space. It would be akin to going to the hardware store to buy a specific nut or bolt and having to sift through one giant bin in order to find it among thousands of others that were of different sizes.
Does anyone know if the existing Cybook also fails to provide the ability store and access documents in a hierchical manner? Or the upcoming model for that matter?
Thank you Harry for pointing out this very important aspect of the Sony to me!