Well I made it there and back well enough, though I'm still recovering from the long day somewhat. I'm not going to do a formal-type report because I wasn't paying close enough attention to do a proper job of one -- I was having
way too much fun!
I didn't do pictures (sorry, Alex), but there wasn't really anything to photograph anyway. It was a large tent with standard booth spaces in it, and they had several Readers on a table along the front and a couple more along the side, as well as a laptop so folks could see the Connect Store listings. There were five Sony folks there, including two who were at the Blogger's Day in San Diego last month, one of whom is the product manager, it was cool to see them again.
They let me talk to folks who walked by, talked myself hoarse, actually, and they joked that I knew the Reader better than they did, which I found amusing. I told folks what I thought of the Reader, and answered questions from a user perspective that the marketing folks who were there really couldn't answer
as marketing folks. I especially enjoyed answering the "how long does the battery last" question. I suggested folks come here to MobileRead for (lots and lots) more information, which I think surprised the Product Manager the first time he heard me do it, though he didn't object in the least.
General response from folks was positive. There were some who were really excited, of course, and a few that were completely unimpressed.
I most liked the folks who didn't figure out that they were functional until they saw the page change. The expressions on their faces were priceless!
Like I said, not much to say about the Sony Booth itself, it was more or l less what you'd expect.
Oh, they also had a ~32" plasma screen set up on its side with a giant cut-out of the Reader around it, so that the plasma showed where the Reader's screen would be. I joked some that it was next year's model.
Hmm, I had some things I was supposed to ask about....
prslabs.com -- they do want to open it, but can't tell when, not can't say, but don't know, it seemed to be a matter of limited resources and lots to do.
I specifically asked about "Function Expansion" (aka hacking). I didn't write it down, and they didn't want me to straight quote them anyway, but as a paraphrase: they're watching what's going on here in that area with great interest, and are excited and pleased that people are so interested in the Reader and what it can do. Add that to the past attitude toward hacking in the Librie' ....
I had some free time to talk informally with them and I was impressed with their interest in trying to make the Reader as open and accessible as they can. They apparently watch MR quite closely and are particularly interested in some of the suggestions and ideas that are popping up here. I don't know how long that level of attention can last, as they must have other things to do than read this forum, but it seems to be so for the moment.
Okay, I know I'm not remembering some other things I was supposed to ask about, so if y'all will remind me, I'll answer as I can. I think I was pretty good as far as remembering to
ask the questions, but the discussion was pretty random, and I didn't take notes, as I said. And there were some things they couldn't comment on (they have bosses to answer to, you know), but I'll answer as best I can,
One last tidbit I picked up -- you might want to try looking for Readers at CompUSA before too long.
