Secret 15% off sale at eReader

[Bob Russell]

Thanks to Sammy McLoughlin at Palm Addicts for sharing the news about a secret (well, perhaps not *that* secret, see replies below) eReader sale giving 15% off on any e-book purchase through Sep 16, 2008. The discount code is "ROM15".

[igorsk]

It's not very "secret" when they announce it in their mailing list...

[wayrad]

Originally Posted by igorsk

It's not very "secret" when they announce it in their mailing list...

And I found out about the "secret" sale through the banner at the top of their home page...

15% off is nice though!

[Bob Russell]

"Secret" - That's just the name of the sale. Surely we can let them have their marketing fun. Bottom line is that 15% off is available, so if you have been meaning to get a book, this weekend is a good time to do it!

[TheJohnNewton]

Downloaded a freebie as I couldn't readily tell (I admit I did not look very hard) what format they support. Got a pdb file which does not appear to be Kindle friendly. Was hoping for a unprotected mobi format. Found the hardware/software requirement page. Bummer.

When will this multiple non compatable ebook format insantity end? What do business people not understand about meeting customer needs? Here I'll make it simlple: Require customers to do work = no sale. Make it easy for customer to use your product = sale. Walks away shaking head with a heavy sigh...

BTW, I realize I'm preaching to the choir here... more like ranting to the choir really, lol.

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by TheJohnNewton

Downloaded a freebie as I couldn't readily tell (I admit I did not look very hard) what format they support. Got a pdb file which does not appear to be Kindle friendly. Was hoping for a unprotected mobi format. Found the hardware/software requirement page. Bummer.

When will this multiple non compatable ebook format insantity end? What do business people not understand about meeting customer needs? Here I'll make it simlple: Require customers to do work = no sale. Make it easy for customer to use your product = sale. Walks away shaking head with a heavy sigh...

BTW, I realize I'm preaching to the choir here... more like ranting to the choir really, lol.

Hi John. That is the eReader store which sells the "eReader" format (they have software for PC, iPhone/iTouch, etc.). It is owned by FictionWise.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by TheJohnNewton

Downloaded a freebie as I couldn't readily tell (I admit I did not look very hard) what format they support. Got a pdb file which does not appear to be Kindle friendly. Was hoping for a unprotected mobi format. Found the hardware/software requirement page. Bummer.

Er, "eReader.com" - if you look at the name closely you may find that there's a bit of a clue in the name. They sell books in "eReader" format, strangely enough .

Funny thing, that!

[TheJohnNewton]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Er, "eReader.com" - if you look at the name closely you may find that there's a bit of a clue in the name. They sell books in "eReader" format, strangely enough .

Funny thing, that!

Hi Harry,

That's cool if you know what ereader format is. If you don't then it doesn't help much I just visted WeOnlySellBooksInOurFormatAndIfYouDontKnowWhatThat IsYouAreAMoron.com but I had to read through their site to see what devices their format works on too. Funny thing, that!

Now if there was a standard ebook format that worked on any device and that's all every ebook vendor sold there would be no need for us to talk about it as we would all be too busy buying and reading ebooks. Bottom line I can't give eReader money even if I want to because I can't use their product. It's the same silly situation at Amazon as they cripple their books to only work on Kindles. Is it just me or is turning away customers generally a bad thing for business?

BTW, I've had a Kindle since February, read about ebooks on this site, work in IT, am generally considered a "geek" or "tech nerd" and I had no clue about the eReader format. Why would I as a Kindle owner? Why should I have to as an ebook consumer? How likely is Joe Consumer to know? Why should he have to?

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by TheJohnNewton

BTW, I've had a Kindle since February, read about ebooks on this site, work in IT, am generally considered a "geek" or "tech nerd" and I had no clue about the eReader format. Why would I as a Kindle owner? Why should I have to as an ebook consumer? How likely is Joe Consumer to know? Why should he have to?

Well, the ereader format goes back many years -- some of us read books in that format on our first Palm PDAs. They are marketing to a base of customers who know what the format is...I don't see why they should need to accomodate Kindle owners?

[HarryT]

Perhaps the confusion arises because some people appear to be using the term "eReader" as a kind of "generic" name for an eBook reader? As you say, for us "old timers" the term is only associated with the name of a specific eBook format.

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps the confusion arises because some people appear to be using the term "eReader" as a kind of "generic" name for an eBook reader?

Undoubtedly. Maybe they should have stuck with "Peanut Press?"

[TheJohnNewton]

Originally Posted by bwaldron

Well, the ereader format goes back many years -- some of us read books in that format on our first Palm PDAs. They are marketing to a base of customers who know what the format is...I don't see why they should need to accomodate Kindle owners?

I would think the reason is obvious. Kindle owners have money and buy books. eReader sell books. Seems like a good match. And I'm not just a Kindle guy my main point is any ebook should work on any reader. Making the customer figure it out or turning away customers just makes no sense.

They really should accomodate all readers. Brand of ereader hardware ownership shouldn't matter. More potential readers, more potential sales. I'm actually a bit surprised you guys aren't just saying "Yeah we already know this John, duh."

[TheJohnNewton]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Perhaps the confusion arises because some people appear to be using the term "eReader" as a kind of "generic" name for an eBook reader? As you say, for us "old timers" the term is only associated with the name of a specific eBook format.

Well that doesn't help but why should a consumer even have to concern herself with such things?

[HarryT]

The same reason that if you buy a car you have to know whether to put petrol or deisel fuel in it. The world isn't arranged for your convenience - you have to accept it the way that it is, and know what eBook format your reader requires, just as you have to know what type of fuel your car requires. Demanding that all eBook readers adopt the same file format is as likely to succeed as demanding that all cars run on the same type of fuel.

[TheJohnNewton]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The same reason that if you buy a car you have to know whether to put petrol or deisel fuel in it. The world isn't arranged for your convenience - you have to accept it the way that it is, and know what eBook format your reader requires, just as you have to know what type of fuel your car requires. Demanding that all eBook readers adopt the same file format is as likely to succeed as demanding that all cars run on the same type of fuel.

But every gas station sells every type of gas so unless I'm driving something really experimental I can pull into any station and be pretty sure I'm going to be able to fuel up. Well I just pulled into "The worlds largest ebook store" and was unable to fill up????

I'm not demanding anything I'm just saying if I own a business I would try to figure out what my customers want and then make it as easy as possible for my customers to use my product. Actually turning away potential customers would be a big red flag to me that I could be doing something a lot better. The world may not be arranged for my convenience but the store owner who makes it more convenient is the on that is going to get my money.

Am I just a really bad writer or am I not making sense?