Has iRex misled us?

[Riocaz]

I fully expect iRex to pull my most recent post over ther so I'm posting it here too:

http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=473

OK it's now the last day in September. Many of us has had our iLiads for month or more (Well I've only had a working one for a month) and still the majority of the functions the iLiad was claimed to support back when you opened ordering have not manifested.

MP3 support
OEB support
21 hours power (or greater than 10,000 pageturns)
Support for certain formats is limited (txt) at best.
The note functions are still not fully in place.
PDF rotate and zoom are still not implemented.
The SDK is still not available.
You have yet to comply with the GPL.
etc etc etc.

And now iRex are actively (though quietly) changing those very specs on their website (Seriously look at the specs listed now and those listed 3-4 months ago) they have changed.

Are people now starting to get the impression that iRex are simply unable to meet the specifications they claimed for the machine when they began to sell it. Is the machine even capable of ever meeting those specs? I'm starting to have my doubts. And if so does it mean that iRex would be liable to the point that they will have to give refunds (certainly that would be the case under UK law)?

To iRex, the early adopters have been your stanch defenders in the past few months, but we are getting seriously <selfcensored> off with the fact that you are still working out what should have been minor kinks. Yes we begged you to release the iLiad early. Yes we agreed to use "Not quite final" software but you have had months to fix these issues. And frankly we have seen little or no improvement on any them (Including power management, yes it's almost doubled, but it's still less than half what was promised).

I know I'm starting to think that I should have waited for the Sony. Even if the specs of the machine arn't as good. Simply because they (on the reports so-far) have managed to produce a product that actually does what they say it will (And some of you know how much I hate Sony, and how galling it is to say that).

So I ask you iLiad owners have we been intentionally misled into buying a product that doesn't and cannot do the job iRex told us it could do?

And some people think I only ever defend them...

[donkaarlos]

No they have not misled us. Their own too optimistic expectations have misled them. They were out too early. On the other hand, while development has been slow, coming out has for sure increased their speed and customer feedback. Tough times for IRex employees I guess, and tough times for Iliad owners as well of cause.

After one or two years this might get an interesting case for business schools. We might bet if it will be a success story or a disaster case.

[Riocaz]

But in misleading themselves, by allowing themselves to be led by their expectations have they not misled us?

Surely the buyers have a right to expect that the people selling them something be in a position to guarantee they can deliver what they are selling? Outside forces may change that without making the vendor a liar, but in this case I don't see that.

-edit sorry that not well written--

What mean by an outside force would be something fully out of their control like a fire burning down their production plant. or the people that make e-ink going under. Something that they do not control which would prevent them from making the product.

As everthing thus-far has been internal to iRex they do not have this excuse.

[deadite66]

its starting to feel this way, updates are coming slowly with minimal changes.
as i said in the irex forum if they just released all the source files and gave us a way to reinstall the complete OS from home them the community could of helped them fix it.

seems irex have minimal staff and getting this sorted in a timely manner is too much for them.

if i dont have a decent battery life before end of december i'll consider asking irex for my money back.

[ali]

Originally Posted by donkaarlos

After one or two years this might get an interesting case for business schools. We might bet if it will be a success story or a disaster case.

Desaster.

There is no reason to buy an Iliad right now - the Sony is better in all respects. Even if the Iliad was $350, the Sony would be the better choice.

And iRex steals open source software, while Sony does not. So iRex even blew the underdog/small-company sympathy away.

[deadite66]

Originally Posted by donkaarlos

No they have not misled us. Their own too optimistic expectations have misled them.

isn't that an oxymoron?

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by ali

...the Sony is better in all respects.

I wouldn't go that far. You might make a good case that the Sony is better for just reading straight text, but it can't take notes, has a smaller screen, etc.

They're not really directly competing products as I see it.

[ali]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I wouldn't go that far. You might make a good case that the Sony is better for just reading straight text, but it can't take notes, has a smaller screen, etc.

I really think so.

1 - The miscalibration and slow sampling speed on my touchpad is so bad I cannot read anything I wrote there, so I can't take notes. Plus I have to take out the pen like three times until it actually works, and it hurts the battery life badly. So I'd immediatly trade the touchpad in for, say, the "1","2",... buttons on the Sony.

2 - The screen itself is larger, but you loose lots of space due to the stupid two bars on the bottom and the shadowed region in the top. The difference to the Sony is really small.

[donkaarlos]

Originally Posted by Riocaz

But in misleading themselves, by allowing themselves to be led by their expectations have they not misled us?

Surely the buyers have a right to expect that the people selling them something be in a position to guarantee they can deliver what they are selling? Outside forces may change that without making the vendor a liar, but in this case I don't see that.

OF CAUSE - YOU ARE RIGHT! -

[Riocaz]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I wouldn't go that far. You might make a good case that the Sony is better for just reading straight text, but it can't take notes, has a smaller screen, etc.

They're not really directly competing products as I see it.

No you are right they arn't. And I would have purchased the iLiad for the biggerscreen and notes if everything else was equal. but the facts are that everything else is _not_ equal. And at the moment (and for the foreseeable future if they are as slow to implement new applications as they have been about fixing the ones they do have) we have a device that reads 3 formats. (html/xml, txt and df)

pdf is currently only partially implemented. Rotate and zoom being missing at the minute.

html/xml works

txt is almost unusable due to problems with linewrapping.

Frankly for my needs, as of this second, it works fine. BUT One reason I brought it was that I intend to take a few courses this year (japanese for one) and the idea was this would be my notebook and maybe even the textbook. While it has that functionality I would currently be better off with my 5/6 year old Vadem (now Pinax) Clio subnotebook than my iLad.

[donkaarlos]

Originally Posted by NatCh

I wouldn't go that far. You might make a good case that the Sony is better for just reading straight text, but it can't take notes, has a smaller screen, etc.

They're not really directly competing products as I see it.

I agree! I have a Sony Librie. Software is ready and rather good, but the devices limitation is screen size and resolution. Even landscape and splitting one A4 to two does not make them readable..

Anyway for buying and reading books and probably soon other content it is for sure a winner. I might have bought already the ereader... but getting it here is difficult and officially connect works in US only.

And as Scotty stated book supply is not that great yet.

Hope that until the end of the year things will be better. Announced pdf features are needed and is it really that difficult to get some book supplier to write DRM software for the iliad? I'm still hoping for it.

[donkaarlos]

Originally Posted by ali

I really think so.

2 - The screen itself is larger, but you loose lots of space due to the stupid two bars on the bottom and the shadowed region in the top. The difference to the Sony is really small.

Completly agree on this one. With Sony you have the option to hide the position bar (one bar only). This should be easy feature to add to iliad, but we still haven't got it

[Riocaz]

Originally Posted by ali

Desaster.

Err Ali, just to be sure I am reading this bit right? Are you correcting his spelling? Because if you are that isn't a word in the english language. His spelling of disaster was correct. Or am I mis-understanding?

[NatCh]

nah, I think he was saying it will be remembered as a disaster.

[Riocaz]

Originally Posted by NatCh

nah, I think he was saying it will be remembered as a disaster.

Ahh yes now I see. My apologies Ali, I was completely mis-understanding.