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Originally Posted by orwell2k
I've been reading on my PB360 since Xmas and love it. Compact size, ease of use, ultra-fast page turning, and an incredibly good FBReader implementation make it a dream to use.
I prefer FB2 format for most books, and frankly despise ePub, but this little baby actually makes ePub seem almost OK. Add to that the ability to open non-DRM ePubs in FBReader and you have almost all of the advantages of reading FB2, with perhaps a little worse formatting.
Mergers tend to mean compromise to some degree, especially when the companies are offering similar product classes. I would hate to see the excellent PB devices get dragged back down to another level. And I certainly hope the firmware development keeps a significant East Euro (Russian/Ukrainian) group in place, as these guys seems to know how to make good user firmware (first and foremost they support FB2 development, and they seem to do a better job with the rest of the formats as well - the LBook firmware was usually superior on the Hanlin V3 clones).
Here's hoping the commercial benefits don't kill off the great devices PB currently have out there - I'm glad I got my PB360 before this happened! Of course, I am always hopeful of a pleasant surprise...  |
I know this won't seem like much from a person not involved with either company in any way, but I tell you now that the Pocketbook brand will only get stronger and better from this...remember who's name is on the logo in big letters...it is they who are the major player here anyone can assemble hardware, the magic is in the software and how it gets the most out of the hardware. It's not like the development is suddenly going to be farmed out to some hack company in India (I have never come across a company that did not end up spending 10x what doing the coding in house would have cost to begin with, just to fix everything busted in the software they off-shored to India software companies.) Those "Wacky Guys in Kiev" are something special in developers...getting every bit of "oomph" out of the hardware they can.
It is the brand-x devices who have shown no ability to build software for the hardware provided or order just 500 pcs. world wide every other month that will go away/elsewhere or be folded into other brands. For example Astak and Bebook could combine (just pulling names out of thin air here as examples only) to form something that is less dysfunctional than they are separately and come out on the other side stronger and far more able to compete in the market place. And they will have access, for a price, to the expertise of Pocketbooks developers and designers along side Netronix hardware magic. Just no more low end components or firmware except from those brands nobody wants anything to do with who will be pushed off to some small factory who is willing to handle lesser clients using whatever cheap hardware is left from the big factory and sold just to make room for new better components. Again this happens all the time...really, it will be a HUGE & GREAT thing for Pocketbook users. It sure as heck is not stopping me from buying mine soon as possible. And I have my eyeball open to see the large format device they are bound to come out with, you know the one we saw only a glimpse of in passing during his original Pocketbook video last year?