3 New Sony Readers announced today, apps coming this fall

[jcatl]

Given the poor experience of purchasing a book on Sony's bookstore through the reader (my experiences are limited to my PRS-900), I'd say that side-loading and planning ahead are much better options, thus Wi-Fi or 3G is really immaterial on a Sony reader except in a desperate pinch for new reading material and away from a computer.

But, when it comes to competing in the current US marketplace, not having these options on the lower priced readers will not compare favorably with the competition, particularly when the prices are actually higher with less features. Build quality and touch will be lost on the "what's the most bang for the buck" mindset of Americans.

It's good that Sony is focusing on other markets with these devices.

[kennyc]

Yep, I'm like that. I virtually never use the connectivity (3G) in my Kindle or recently sold Sony 900. When I'm reading, I just want to read.

[Orn8one]

@ Boston - Thank you so much for the photos, the trouble you took was immense and so appreciated and has helped me a lot.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Here are my 2 cents concerning wi-fi: If the reader of my choice had wi-fi, great. If not, no big deal. I wouldn't pay extra for wi-fi, but a touchscreen is worth the extra money for me.

My feelings exactly! I now have a 505 and a nook (just a little over a month old). My husband has a 900--and I love the touch screen interface of it--everything is so much more accessable and intuitive! Looking up a word in the dictionary is so easy--just double tap the word and there the definition is.

I bought the nook because I wanted a dictionary. I've looked up words in it and it's doable, but i have to navigate to the word with the arrows on the LCD screen which takes awhile.

I've used the wifi on the nook, but almost all my books are side loaded through Calibre/USB. I don't mind it being there, but I certainly wouldn't pay anything extra for it.

Now, even though my nook is only a little over a month old, I'm probably going to break down and buy a Sony 650 when they're available in store. That is, as long as the Pearl Screen is as clear as advertised. The glare on the 600/900's are what kept me from getting one of those models. I'd keep comparing the 600/900's to my 505 and the screens always came up way short.

dordale

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by dordale

My feelings exactly! I now have a 505 and a nook (just a little over a month old). My husband has a 900--and I love the touch screen interface of it--everything is so much more accessable and intuitive! Looking up a word in the dictionary is so easy--just double tap the word and there the definition is.

I bought the nook because I wanted a dictionary. I've looked up words in it and it's doable, but i have to navigate to the word with the arrows on the LCD screen which takes awhile.

I've used the wifi on the nook, but almost all my books are side loaded through Calibre/USB. I don't mind it being there, but I certainly wouldn't pay anything extra for it.

Now, even though my nook is only a little over a month old, I'm probably going to break down and buy a Sony 650 when they're available in store. That is, as long as the Pearl Screen is as clear as advertised. The glare on the 600/900's are what kept me from getting one of those models. I'd keep comparing the 600/900's to my 505 and the screens always came up way short.

dordale

I think you'll like the 650. When I played with it in-store, I brought my own 505 with me to compare.

The 650 is smaller than both the 505 and nook, and lighter. It has all the features of the 900, plus a couple more. The bezel is a little deep on the display, but the touch works quite well and the screen blows away the 505. It's contrast is a bit better than the nook as well.

I've had short ownership of a 700, 600 and 900, and what had me sell them all off is not that the features were poor, but the same as you, the screen had me go back to my 505. The rough edges on the nook had me send that back too. Even going back to my DR800SG after playing with a 650 is hard.

[grooks]

Originally Posted by Boston

Attachment 57791
650 Landscape with Notes

I just noticed that Sony possibly changed the landscape view.

When viewing the top half of a page in landscape, it would show the first few lines of the bottom half but slightly greyed out. It would also do something similiar when viewing the bottom half of a page. The picture attached seems to do away with how landscape was previously viewed.

[perost]

Originally Posted by grooks

I just noticed that Sony possibly changed the landscape view.

When viewing the top half of a page in landscape, it would show the first few lines of the bottom half but slightly greyed out. It would also do something similiar when viewing the bottom half of a page. The picture attached seems to do away with how landscape was previously viewed.

This behaviour was already changed with the PRS-900, so it's nothing new for Sony readers. I think many people were unhappy with how the PRS-600 handled landscape mode, so they changed it in the newer PRS-900. And it seems that they will keep the changes in the new readers too.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by TallMomof2

It's a matter of personal choice and desire but for me wifi is a far larger plus than it is a negative. Yes, Amazon handled the book deletion poorly as they should have notified the purchasers of the copyright infringing book that it would be deleted before doing so. All monies were refunded. (IIRC, the amount refunded was greater than the purchase price.) If I were an author I would be glad that Amazon supports copyright.

They did indeed handle it poorly. And there is really nothing stopping from doing so again. Which is the primary reason I am not interested in a Kindle.

Either Amazon or the publisher should have absorbed the cost rather than delete the books at all, as this is what would have happened with a traditional paper book.

IMHO anyway.

-Pie

[simplyparticular]

Originally Posted by jcatl

Given the poor experience of purchasing a book on Sony's bookstore through the reader (my experiences are limited to my PRS-900), I'd say that side-loading and planning ahead are much better options, thus Wi-Fi or 3G is really immaterial on a Sony reader except in a desperate pinch for new reading material and away from a computer.

But, when it comes to competing in the current US marketplace, not having these options on the lower priced readers will not compare favorably with the competition, particularly when the prices are actually higher with less features. Build quality and touch will be lost on the "what's the most bang for the buck" mindset of Americans.

It's good that Sony is focusing on other markets with these devices.

That's a shame that the 900 has lousy store implementation. That certainly limits the use of the 3G.

I think Sony is going to have to fight really hard to even stay flat in the US market. They do have a lot of retail partners here, but I hope they've targeted their growth internationally.

[jcatl]

Originally Posted by simplyparticular

That's a shame that the 900 has lousy store implementation. That certainly limits the use of the 3G.

It's not totally unusable but the majority of books have 0 reviews. So, if I'm looking for something new to read and want to read more about it besides the marketing synopsis, I grab my iPhone and go find reviews on Amazon to decide whether I'm going to buy the book. Amazon has fostered a community that feeds itself with their review system, and Sony has not so it's just lesser of an experience regardless of the user interface.

I ordered a WiFi Kindle 3 today so when I get it I'll see if I'm willing to keep it (the price is right).

[Clancy_s]

Originally Posted by Papi

Someone doesn't need or doesn't care about wifi, I can totally understand it...I wondered more about people specifically not wanting wifi on the device.

Paranoia and control freakiness on my part; ymmv

I got my 505 partly because I thought there would be a big trend towards wifi on future devices, and I want total control of what is and isn't on my reader.

Mostly I read fiction, and if I'm in to a story I'll have no desire to stop mid story to research something - I'd do that later, and am happy to do so from my computer, since I prefer a full keyboard and colour screen for that.

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

They did indeed handle it poorly. And there is really nothing stopping from doing so again. Which is the primary reason I am not interested in a Kindle.

Either Amazon or the publisher should have absorbed the cost rather than delete the books at all, as this is what would have happened with a traditional paper book.

IMHO anyway.

-Pie

Agreed. Contrast this to Apple's policy on revoking apps: They have a kill switch to delete apps off devices, they've yet to use it on anything. Apps that got pulled for copyright issues? Nope. Apps that violated the dev guidelines and were pulled by Apple? Nope. That tethering app from the 2.0 days which is probably the "worst" of them all from the perspective of AT&T? Nope. I strongly suspect Apple only expects to use the kill switch if a truly malicious app gets out there that can cause harm to users (harvesting user information/etc). Otherwise, just pulling it off the store is enough.

In the case of books, it isn't as if the book will be malicious code. It doesn't make much sense at all to delete it off devices except to bend over backwards to appease copyright owners in a way they are not legally required to do.

[harryE123]

I agree 100% too. I don't know if amazon's stance was a pr fiasco, or if it's an indication of a more sinister control mentality within the company. Well, at least they offered the delicious irony of 1984 being the book in question.

[bill_mchale]

Originally Posted by harryE123

I agree 100% too. I don't know if amazon's stance was a pr fiasco, or if it's an indication of a more sinister control mentality within the company. Well, at least they offered the delicious irony of 1984 being the book in question.

With respect to ebooks, I am not a particular fan of Amazon, but I really view the 1984 issue as Amazon being in a tough position (i.e., books were sold from their storefront that they did not have a right to sell) and simply handling it badly.

Given the bad PR they received, I doubt they will do it again.

In contrast, Apple may not pull Apps, but they have been decidedly Big Brotherish with respect to the Apps they let people sell (and with no clearly stated policy either). I am not convinced they wouldn't do the same thing with their book store.

--
Bill

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by bill_mchale

In contrast, Apple may not pull Apps, but they have been decidedly Big Brotherish with respect to the Apps they let people sell 0(and with no clearly stated policy either). I am not convinced they wouldn't do the same thing with their book store.

Apple definitely hasn't been forthcoming with their app store rules. But I think a better comparison would be their sales of content like music and movies from iTunes. I don't purchase lossy forms of music so I don't use their store and am not aware if they've had any content limited in the past. I know you cannot copy music from your iPod to your computer without a 3rd Party program (and then there was the silliness about ringtones costing extra for songs you already purchased when the iPhone first came out).

The overall tone, though, is that digital content being fully controlled by the content providers alone is a terrible idea all around. If they sell me something, I should be able to use it for myself or loan it (at which time I don't have access to it, like a regular book). Microsoft Office has a good solution. I installed my one purchased copy on all my computers, but it checks the LAN to see if anyone is using it when I want to. If so, it tells me and doesn't start until I quit the other person's running program. This emulates "loaning" pretty well. But how do you do that with books -- and eliminate DRM!! -- I don't know.

Obviously this is a can of worms with no easy solution, one that publishers and providers and users like, but there it is.

-Pie