MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - PRS-900 Sony, if you're listening

chiefwili · 12-31-2009, 07:24 PM

My rant for the new year is directed at Sony for its shortsightedness when it comes to their prs900's market strategy. With just a few tweaks the prs900 could be the iphone of the electronic reader world, leaving behind all comers. How so? Sony needs to remember that unlike Amazon and B & N, they are in the business of selling electronic devices and not books. The greatest resistance to buying any ereader comes from paying for a device that still requires purchasing books. The easier, cheaper and more available Sony makes acquiring ebooks the more desirable over other devices the prs900 becomes. Its ability to use a greater number of formats has been a strong selling point, especially since abandoning BBeB in favor of EPub, but now Sony needs to take the next step towards openness by providing internet browsing capability beyond just the Sony Store. Allowing access through WiFi to vast collections of ebooks and RSS feeds (many of which are free) only makes the purchasing decision more of a slam dunk in Sony's favor. Let's get real, making available paid subscriptions to dailies (WSJ) only sells subscriptions not more devices. While I have your ear why not also give serious consideration to abandoning the less than notable Reader Library software and purchasing Calibre. Anyone with a reader that isn't using Calibre simply hasn't discovered it yet or its RSS features. Having Reader Library load automatically doesn't make it the software of choice. Just one guy's opinion.

12-31-2009, 07:24 PM	#1
chiefwili Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: sony PRS-700	Sony, if you're listening My rant for the new year is directed at Sony for its shortsightedness when it comes to their prs900's market strategy. With just a few tweaks the prs900 could be the iphone of the electronic reader world, leaving behind all comers. How so? Sony needs to remember that unlike Amazon and B & N, they are in the business of selling electronic devices and not books. The greatest resistance to buying any ereader comes from paying for a device that still requires purchasing books. The easier, cheaper and more available Sony makes acquiring ebooks the more desirable over other devices the prs900 becomes. Its ability to use a greater number of formats has been a strong selling point, especially since abandoning BBeB in favor of EPub, but now Sony needs to take the next step towards openness by providing internet browsing capability beyond just the Sony Store. Allowing access through WiFi to vast collections of ebooks and RSS feeds (many of which are free) only makes the purchasing decision more of a slam dunk in Sony's favor. Let's get real, making available paid subscriptions to dailies (WSJ) only sells subscriptions not more devices. While I have your ear why not also give serious consideration to abandoning the less than notable Reader Library software and purchasing Calibre. Anyone with a reader that isn't using Calibre simply hasn't discovered it yet or its RSS features. Having Reader Library load automatically doesn't make it the software of choice. Just one guy's opinion.