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So I tried posting here earlier, and it didn't work.
I think that maybe everyone expects too much of the lovely little Reader, critics and apologists alike.
I took my new Reader to a friend's place to show it off. They were a little perplexed as to what it was, and it took a bit to explain.
The best way to show off this gadget is to say: "Check out my new electronic book/bookcase/shelf/library. Neat, huh?"
With my friends, I had to explain, "no, there's no backlight. You need an external light source. Backlighting creates eyestrain, that's bad, OK?....This looks like paper....it doesn't do animation, its a simple, mutable display that require virtually no energy, which means little charging."
Anyway, the point is that this is the best d**n book I have ever bought. That is what the Reader is; a book replacement device. I beleive, from my limited use of it, that it excels at this task.
As to some of its shortcomings, I believe--perhaps wrongly--that the idea was to create a neat-looking display with a very basic CPU. No wi-fi, no touchscreen, just like a book.
Regarding the lack of collexions/cataloging on a SD card, I believe that the problem lies with the card being a "dumb" storage device and the Reader being a "simple" device. Maybe using a USB card reader and some explorer type program, catagories and folders may be created and seen by the Reader. Whether this is a limitation of the card of the Reader itself, I do not know.
Even before I had a Reader, I chafed at the people demeaning it for not having wi-fi, colour, a touchscreen, &tc. A Book allows humans to transfer squiggles into ideas via magic. The Reader does the same thing, brilliantly and wonderfully.
If I have a complaint with the Reader, it is the Connect software that is touchy about my air-card internet access. Otherwise, anyone who thinks that I am not whole-heartedly thrilled with the device misunderstands me.
Regarding SONY's reluctance to innovate, remember that the model A went 45 mph tops and had no windscreen. New, improved features will most likely come with time, and with time, perhaps even SONY can amend their model of customer interaction and service (which I will concede can be found lacking).
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