Sony thinks quality will win out (for them)

[astra]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Imagine a 900 with say a touch screen that does not interfere with the screen, better battery life, more internal ram, an SD slot, wifi & 3G, and a web browser for for $200. Now that would out do Amazon big time.

Actually, lets make it an 8" screen as well.

You wish.
When/if/ever Sony makes one, I am going to buy it at once.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

No holy war. You asked and I replied. I think it's great that you like your device. Reading the way you like is the only thing that matters.

Maybe I missed your reply.
You never mentioned any reason why you think so.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by astra

Maybe I missed your reply.
You never mentioned any reason why you think so.

PIA software and store. In earlier post.

[porkupan]

Harmon
Are you aware of PRS-900? You seem to be describing the "orignal" Sone Store experience. I don't think you are describing it correctly either, adding a few extra steps, such as must have ADE. However, PRS-900 never has to be connected to a PC if all you wish to read is available from Sony.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Harmon

First, you have to download a dedicated program called Sony Library. This program may or may not play well with your computer or EBR (ebook reader device.) Then you have to download another program from Adobe, called ADE, which in some fashion interacts with Library to enable your EBR to use the DRM on the Sony ebooks. You have to "authorize" your EBR to interact with the Library & Sony Store. (This seems to involve making blood sacrifices to the gods, and turning over your firstborn to the Wicked Witch of the West.)

The only way you can use the Sony Store to buy books is through the Sony Library program. Any book you buy in the Store is stored in the Library program, using a primitive heirarchial structure. (I actually use Calibre to organize my ebooks library, on my computer and on my Sonys.)

So basically, Sony requires you to run two programs in order to even get into their store to buy books, and the programs are - in my experience - kind of dicey. (I have two Sony EBRs, and when I try to connect one of them, the Library program freezes. In the past, it has also messed up the EBR (my 505) to the point where I had to do things like reinstall firmware. The other EBR (my 300) connects & everything works 90 percent of the time.)

As for purchasing once you are in the Store, I haven't done it for months, so I can't give you a detailed explanation. I can only say that my experience quickly led me to the conclusion that I was only buying a book from the Store if I had no other option, and I generally have other options.

Finally, you have to go through this process of acquiring the ADE and Library programs for each and every computer you want to use to buy a book from the Sony Store. Whereas on Amazon, I can buy a book from any computer or ipad or iphone & send it directly to a Kindle, iphone or ipad.

(I am inclined to believe that part of my problem with Library and my 505 lies in the fact that I first authorized the 505 on a different computer, and now the Library program doesn't recognize the flavor of ADE authorization I have. Or something...)

Wait... what???
I mean... I had a hard day at work - been pulling 14 hours a day, so I am tired and I probably missed something here.

But... sure I don't love SONY's software... and it's got problems. But what you describe is not my experience.

I bought my PRS900 a couple of months ago. Installed the Reader software on my laptop - running Windows7 32 Enterprise. No problems. I hear people talking about ADE, but I never installed it or seemed to need it.

I have been using the Reader software to upload content - books purchased directly from SONY's store, WSJ and FT subscriptions daily, free books from Google or Gutenberg, comic books in PDF, PDF papers from JSTOR and SSRN. I use Calibre to make ebooks of The Economist and upload them via reader software.

Never had problems, so far.

It's not very user friendly, that's for sure. It took me a while to figure out that sync doesn't work well and makes a mess and that I better drag and drop. And at first I had to work 20 min to figure out how to get subscriptions delivered to my laptop rather than the device.

And it has frozen on me a couple of times.

Yet, it's not the nightmare some people make it out to be. You can create collections. You can upload everything I have tried to upload so far with no problems with rights. Purchased content is delivered quickly. You can view annotated files on your PC, which you can't do with, say, Calibre.

I am tired, not sure if I am making much sense. But to me, the main problem with the Reader software is that it is not user friendly. Once you figure it out, it works. It just takes some time getting used to.

It sure could use some improvements. But it's not THAT bad.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by vxf

Wait... what???
I mean... I had a hard day at work - been pulling 14 hours a day, so I am tired and I probably missed something here.

But... sure I don't love SONY's software... and it's got problems. But what you describe is not my experience.

I bought my PRS900 a couple of months ago. Installed the Reader software on my laptop - running Windows7 32 Enterprise. No problems. I hear people talking about ADE, but I never installed it or seemed to need it.

I have been using the Reader software to upload content - books purchased directly from SONY's store, WSJ and FT subscriptions daily, free books from Google or Gutenberg, comic books in PDF, PDF papers from JSTOR and SSRN. I use Calibre to make ebooks of The Economist and upload them via reader software.

Never had problems, so far.

It's not very user friendly, that's for sure. It took me a while to figure out that sync doesn't work well and makes a mess and that I better drag and drop. And at first I had to work 20 min to figure out how to get subscriptions delivered to my laptop rather than the device.

And it has frozen on me a couple of times.

Yet, it's not the nightmare some people make it out to be. You can create collections. You can upload everything I have tried to upload so far with no problems with rights. Purchased content is delivered quickly. You can view annotated files on your PC, which you can't do with, say, Calibre.

I am tired, not sure if I am making much sense. But to me, the main problem with the Reader software is that it is not user friendly. Once you figure it out, it works. It just takes some time getting used to.

It sure could use some improvements. But it's not THAT bad.

Personal preference, of course. For me, there's no point buying an inferior user experience when the competition is offering something better. If there were no choice, OK, I might put up with it till something better came along. That's not necessary with e-readers at this point.

[CO'Neil]

Well, when I was a young man, by cracky, the PRS500 was quite the thing.

It still works, lo, these many years later.

And no complaints.

[WT Sharpe]

I much prefer the way my Sony PRS-600 handles PDFs to the way my Kindle does. To get the text to reflow on the Kindle, you have to send the file to Amazon for conversion. It doesn't cost much, maybe 10 or 15 cents each time; but to reflow the text on the Sony Touch, all you have to do is change the font size (not to be confused with zooming in on the page itself), and the text automatically reflows. It's much easier on these 60 year-old eyes and much simpler than zooming and panning (which you can also do on the Sony). The Nook also handles PDFs this way. Overall, I prefer my Kindle to either of them, but for PDFs, there's no contest. I don't load PDFs on my Kindle anymore.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

To get the text to reflow on the Kindle, you have to send the file to Amazon for conversion. It doesn't cost much, maybe 10 or 15 cents each time;

It only costs something if you want it sent via wireless to your Kindle. You can also easily drag the PDF into Mobipocket Creator and it will convert it right from your desktop if you're using Windows (results will vary, just like reflow of some PDF's is better than others).

[Harmon]

Originally Posted by porkupan

Harmon
Are you aware of PRS-900? You seem to be describing the "orignal" Sone Store experience. I don't think you are describing it correctly either, adding a few extra steps, such as must have ADE. However, PRS-900 never has to be connected to a PC if all you wish to read is available from Sony.

No, it's my current experience on the 505 & the 300, which is a current model. But evidently the 900 does not involve the same issues.

Maybe the next generation of Sonys will be like the 900.

[TheLongshot]

Originally Posted by Harmon

There *is* no Amazon-like experience on the Sony. That's the problem.

You mean to impulse buy DRM-laden books at $10 a pop? I wouldn't exactly call that a desirable "experience". Sounds more like a good business model to try to suck as much money out of you as possible while locking you into their hardware.

Yes, I agree that Sony's store sucks, but so do most DRM-only shops, IMO. I value portability, particularly since not all devices will have software that will support whatever brand of DRM out there. In addition to my wife's 505, I also have a Nokia N900, which I read ePubs on. No DRM support and not likely to be any in the future. Who knows what other device I might own in the future. I don't care how prevalent a format is, I don't want to be locked into one and base my purchasing decisions based on that.

I still have a great love for the 505. Before I lost mine, I used it all the time and probably would still be using it if I still had it.

[fafaforza]

Originally Posted by Harmon

So basically, Sony requires you to run two programs in order to even get into their store to buy books,

That's funny. I've only ever had to install the Reader software to log into Sony's store. And I've done it on all my laptops.

The only time I've heard ADE mentioned was relating to checking books out of public libraries.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

You mean to impulse buy DRM-laden books at $10 a pop? I wouldn't exactly call that a desirable "experience". Sounds more like a good business model to try to suck as much money out of you as possible while locking you into their hardware.

Yes, I agree that Sony's store sucks, but so do most DRM-only shops, IMO. I value portability, particularly since not all devices will have software that will support whatever brand of DRM out there. In addition to my wife's 505, I also have a Nokia N900, which I read ePubs on. No DRM support and not likely to be any in the future. Who knows what other device I might own in the future. I don't care how prevalent a format is, I don't want to be locked into one and base my purchasing decisions based on that.

I still have a great love for the 505. Before I lost mine, I used it all the time and probably would still be using it if I still had it.

Lol. Yes, to "impulse" buy books. Gasp. To pay money for something I want to read. Pretty much all my books are impulse buys; I feel like reading something, I buy it. Horror. The idea of paying for content I value, which I would normally pay upward of 16 bucks for in trade paperback form, which I don't even have to drive to buy now, lol. And how evil of Amazon, to want to make money off customers.

In case facts matter, there are loads of cheapo and free books on Amazon, delivered in the same convenient fashion. There are Kindle owners who've apparently spent little or nothing on books, out of choice. That's the great thing about the marketplace: choice.

By the way, Sony books seem pretty locked to hardware. At least Amazon offers a choice of apps for various hardware.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

It only costs something if you want it sent via wireless to your Kindle. You can also easily drag the PDF into Mobipocket Creator and it will convert it right from your desktop if you're using Windows (results will vary, just like reflow of some PDF's is better than others).

True, but either way, it involves extra steps that aren't necessary for the Nook or Sony Touch, and those conversions from PDF to mobi usually leave something to be desired. Many of the punctuation characters seem to become lost the conversion process, only to be replaced with question marks.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by TheLongshot

You mean to impulse buy DRM-laden books at $10 a pop? I wouldn't exactly call that a desirable "experience". Sounds more like a good business model to try to suck as much money out of you as possible while locking you into their hardware.

Yes, I agree that Sony's store sucks, but so do most DRM-only shops, IMO. I value portability, particularly since not all devices will have software that will support whatever brand of DRM out there. In addition to my wife's 505, I also have a Nokia N900, which I read ePubs on. No DRM support and not likely to be any in the future. Who knows what other device I might own in the future. I don't care how prevalent a format is, I don't want to be locked into one and base my purchasing decisions based on that.

I still have a great love for the 505. Before I lost mine, I used it all the time and probably would still be using it if I still had it.

We can also download free ebooks from MobileRead straight into the Kindle via wireless. Not too shabby! I haven't tried it with books from Project Gutenberg, but I imagine they could be downloaded into the Kindle via wireless as well.

I rarely buy on impulse, but I have downloaded many many samples to my Kindle for later perusal, something the Sony Store doesn't allow.