I have been reading these forums since I bought the original Kobo device when it came out. I have seen too many comments from ‘Kobo fan boys’ if you will. Sure the device is what it is, a simple e-book reader. However, and a big HOWEVER here, are we wrong to want something that Kobo marketed so strongly with the original device?! Prior to and during Kobo’s launch we have seen on their Web site and in stores an advertisement for a feature to not only read books but also to read newspapers and magazines. If there are users on these forums that don’t care for their money and don’t care if they are given the features that they buy, then by all means go out and buy yourself another device-of-the-month. However, I and many others EXPECT to have the features that were not only promised to us, but heavily marketed by the very company that makes the device.
And for those Kobo fans that have a short memory, let me remind you that the newspapers feature was said to be coming in weeks when the original Kobo launched. This was promised to me by employees at Chapters as well as by Kobo’s own reps. Then magically this ‘coming in weeks’ turned into ‘coming this summer’. And then, yet again, the ‘coming this summer’ turned into ‘coming this fall’. Here we are with October passing by and November coming without the very feature that was ‘coming soon’ to the device that we invested in.
You can look at this at any angle you wish, but it is very simple for me. I purchased a device from Kobo (to support a new Canadian company) and they failed to deliver countless number of times. Their software and firmware testing has been poor, their promised deadlines have been poor, and their customer service has been poor. I have even recently seen on these very forms their own employees asking users to personally message them to test their own software. Absolute silliness.
I do enjoy the device, however as a company they FAIL on all accounts for their original users. If they would like to release a feature on a brand new Kobo that has yet to be released on the original Kobo (but was promised) then that is their choice, but shows absolute disregard to the very users that made them successful. In return, dear Kobo, I will not buy a single book from your store, and will certainly not buy a single device from you. Hi Amazon. Hello Barnes & Noble. Good day Sony.
Lastly, as a professor of software engineering I will be putting together a very interesting case on Kobo as an example to my students. Think anyone would disagree with me how they failed their original user base? Didn't think so, and I hope all of you think deeply before purchasing your next device.
KoboNo
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