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Originally Posted by Teddman
Why is it depressing? Nowadays when the latest electronic gadget seems to be out of date almost before you get home from the store, I find it encouraging that a well-built reader is still a viable choice two years down the road. And it's certainly a happy thing for the owners of the 505, who don't feel a need to replace what continues to be a perfectly fine reader.
I like the 505 so much that I actually bought a back-up unit while they can still be found for sale relatively cheap online.
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Simply put, the 505 is a pretty lousy piece of equipment, and reflects the incredibly underdeveloped state of the ebook industry. What's depressing is that there's been a broad proliferation of clone devices that offer virtually no actual innovation, but rather just a few lame gimmicks without fixing any fundamental problems.
It is not that the 505 is a rugged product that can stand the test of time...it is simply not a very good product. It should have been obsolesced in the 1990s. Then, to add insult to injury for the minority of ebook enthusiasts who have quality standards, nobody else has decided to actually develop anything good either. I'm aware that many people have no such expectations (as are the ebook reader manufacturers, apparently), but for those of us who do, it's very disheartening.
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Originally Posted by kennyc
Agreed! But I think, as I said, there are a number of devices waiting in the wings and will likely be released in the coming year.
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I've got my fingers crossed too.