Quote:
Originally Posted by Fugubot
I just thought it was interesting that even the most passionate defenders of the Reader, like Harry, can't seem to share enthusiasm about the Reader without disclaimers. Even saying the pdf issues are Adobe's fault is not equivalent to saying "The Reader works great." Its always, "The Reader works for me...if I accept the pdf reader is not easy to use...if I keep my expectations in line...if I don't mind that I can't just say the thing just works..."
The attitude that everything's great as it is, when some criticism has been consistent since the reader was released, is only helpful if the device was destined for an esoteric niche market. Most corporations want to enlarge market share and the discussion I wanted to start was whether the recent price drop was sufficient to generate new mass market enthusiasm for the product. It seems to me that its generating the reverse type of buzz: "Its cheaper but its still flawed..."
|
Fugubot,
That, I think, is the core of the problem. The Reader
is designed for a niche market - that of reading fiction. It is designed to be a replacement for a paperback book. For the task of reading fiction from end to end, it excels; truly, it does.
It doesn't work well when it comes to, say, reading PDF textbooks - that's not what it was designed for. If that is someone's main goal, they'd be a lot better off using a Tablet PC with an A4 screen.
I'm certainly not an "apologist" for Sony; they are perfectly capable of making their own
apologia if they feel a need to do so. I just get a little tired reading complaints from people who have bought a Reader for tasks that it was never intended to perform, and then moan that it doesn't do them.
I certainly believe that Sony
should put a disclaimer on the Reader specifications saying that it cannot be used (sensibly) to read A4/Letter sized PDFs; that seems to be the biggest issue that people have, but really, they should never have bought the Reader if that is their primary interest - and yes, Sony certainly need to take responsibility for not making that clear.