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backlyt · 05-07-2010, 02:17 AM

I agree with most people here.

In the interests of trying to be concise, I won't go into all the things I like about it. Let's just say... everything else.

I love the simplicity of the device and I hate to say it, but in that simplicity it reminds me of the first ipods compared to the other mp3 players of the time. Over bloated and complex compared to simple and elegant.

Just to sum up what I've read so far and add my 2 cents...

Open source is a big one for me. The ability to create a real community has worked really well for other companies. And either way, some intrepid young hacker will crack it open sooner or later.
I know there's the whole DRM thing, but let's be realistic here.

A clock/date in the side bar.

Overall pages for the whole book.

PDF reflow. Most pdfs are unusable.
Or a tool to help format pdfs. There used to be a wicked one for Palm OS.

Text scaling issues with some books.

Button combo to lock Navigation buttons.
I don't really care about "sleep" mode. Remember people, there is no power draw to keep a page. I do care about pulling my reader out of my bag to find it in some other book or on some other page and it takes waaaay to long to boot back up if I turn it off.

Dog ear/bookmark corners (and a way to go back to them easily for reference)

Jump to page

Sort by genre, create folders. If I can theoretically have 5gb of books and articles on this thing, some way to organize them would be damn useful.
I wouldn't want to try and do that from the device though... which brings us to the computer software.

PPC please?
Sync the desktop software (and through the cellphone software) with RSS feeds (preferably google reader)

Instapaper!!!

It's annoying have to enter a new bluetooth passcode each time you connect to the device. When I hit sync, I want it to just work.

For those who want more contrast, sorry, that's the hardware. Just like real paper, the only way to increase contrast is to hold it under brighter light.

There should be a plug to close up the SD card slot. One that includes a reset pin.

I noticed that sometimes after unplugging the device, the light stays red until i do a hard reset.

Let's remap the buttons.
The "Back" and "Display" buttons are pretty useless, since "home" does the exact thing as "back", and is better at it in my opinion. Even "Menu" can be accessed from the D-Pad.
"Back" would be more useful as a "last book" switcher, kinda like the one on your TV remote. That way you could quickly switch from, let's say, a fiction read and an article or something.
Display can be reached easily from "menu" and font size can be changed with the D-Pad. Furthermore, I don't think anyone feels the need to quickly change between Serif and Sans Serif, however awesome those 2 fonts are.

Seriously Kobo. If you guys actually read this, know that I have way more ideas.
So if you're looking to hire a slightly OCD, gadget obsessed technophile as a kind of part time consultant, then I'm your man.
And I live in Toronto.

Sincerely
-Serge

05-07-2010, 02:17 AM	#65
backlyt Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2010 Device: kobo ereader	yup. I agree with most people here. In the interests of trying to be concise, I won't go into all the things I like about it. Let's just say... everything else. I love the simplicity of the device and I hate to say it, but in that simplicity it reminds me of the first ipods compared to the other mp3 players of the time. Over bloated and complex compared to simple and elegant. Just to sum up what I've read so far and add my 2 cents... Open source is a big one for me. The ability to create a real community has worked really well for other companies. And either way, some intrepid young hacker will crack it open sooner or later. I know there's the whole DRM thing, but let's be realistic here. A clock/date in the side bar. Overall pages for the whole book. PDF reflow. Most pdfs are unusable. Or a tool to help format pdfs. There used to be a wicked one for Palm OS. Text scaling issues with some books. Button combo to lock Navigation buttons. I don't really care about "sleep" mode. Remember people, there is no power draw to keep a page. I do care about pulling my reader out of my bag to find it in some other book or on some other page and it takes waaaay to long to boot back up if I turn it off. Dog ear/bookmark corners (and a way to go back to them easily for reference) Jump to page Sort by genre, create folders. If I can theoretically have 5gb of books and articles on this thing, some way to organize them would be damn useful. I wouldn't want to try and do that from the device though... which brings us to the computer software. PPC please? Sync the desktop software (and through the cellphone software) with RSS feeds (preferably google reader) Instapaper!!! It's annoying have to enter a new bluetooth passcode each time you connect to the device. When I hit sync, I want it to just work. For those who want more contrast, sorry, that's the hardware. Just like real paper, the only way to increase contrast is to hold it under brighter light. There should be a plug to close up the SD card slot. One that includes a reset pin. I noticed that sometimes after unplugging the device, the light stays red until i do a hard reset. Let's remap the buttons. The "Back" and "Display" buttons are pretty useless, since "home" does the exact thing as "back", and is better at it in my opinion. Even "Menu" can be accessed from the D-Pad. "Back" would be more useful as a "last book" switcher, kinda like the one on your TV remote. That way you could quickly switch from, let's say, a fiction read and an article or something. Display can be reached easily from "menu" and font size can be changed with the D-Pad. Furthermore, I don't think anyone feels the need to quickly change between Serif and Sans Serif, however awesome those 2 fonts are. Seriously Kobo. If you guys actually read this, know that I have way more ideas. So if you're looking to hire a slightly OCD, gadget obsessed technophile as a kind of part time consultant, then I'm your man. And I live in Toronto. Sincerely -Serge Last edited by backlyt; 05-07-2010 at 02:22 AM.