Sony Reader Lives on with Rowling!

[anamardoll]

Link doesn't seem to do what you think it does.

Unless you wanted to suggest a yarn video. I can knit one with the best of 'em.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

Link doesn't seem to do what you think it does.

Unless you wanted to suggest a yarn video. I can knit one with the best of 'em.

No. Y'all got that old song stuck in my head, figured I would share the misery.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

besides the recent k3 crack debacle, it appears to me that there's a higher rate of broken sonys on mobileread.

Broken Kindle complaints tend to show up more on Amazon's forums. The nook is much newer; less history of everything. And everything else has such a tiny market share they don't really compare.

[SensualPoet]

From the original post:

Originally Posted by advocate2

According to today's Wall Street Journal:

After years of refusing to release her boy-wizard books in electronic format, Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling is finally taking the digital plunge, launching an online store that will sell Harry Potter e-books directly to consumers and a social-networking site designed to keep the Potter magic alive.

The free-to-access site, known as Pottermore, launches for the first million users on July 31 and opens to the general public—with the online e-book store—in October. Once the online store opens, the full Harry Potter series will be available as e-books in multiple languages, compatible with any electronic reading device.

Sony Corp. has served as a primary partner in building the site. Once the online store goes live in October, Sony will be selling Pottermore branded products alongside the Harry Potter e-books, a spokeswoman for Sony said. Those could include Pottermore branded Sony e-readers, as well as other Harry Potter-specific electronics or software products.

More than 200 posts later ... it said in the very first one that Kindle and ePub formats would be supported. All this nonsense of Amazon being forced into supporting ePub ... ... and apparently the texts will be released DRM-free, too ... which cuts out any payments to Adobe, btw. As far as I know, Kobo is the only one of the four leading ereaders that supports epub, mobi, pdf DRM free so perhaps we all ought just buy a Kobo Touch to read our favourite Harry Potter.

The OP also slipped in the keyword "could" when it listed Sony ereaders might be Potterised. It is the Sony content division, not hardware, that is engaged with Ms Rowling; There are lots of things -- Potter on the PS3 and on the PS3 network -- which would make far more sense than selling a reskinned Sony ereader.

Lastly, there is absolutely zero evidence that Sony even intends to stay in the ereader / ebook business. They have done nothing to advance their ebook store experience in more than a year nor anything to expand the ability for the store to appear on many other devices in the way its chief competitors have.

On the ereader side, it did an incremental refresh of only two models last year and has effectively withdrawn from markets around the world, shedding partners as important as Walmart and Best Buy. The Sony Style stores in the US and Canada now only carry the 5" non-wifi touch PRS-350 in one colour ... all other models have been discontinued or are perpetually out of stock. Meanwhile, Amazon, B&N and Kobo have worked very hard to expand their base in the past year, even in the face of Agency fiasco and the launch of the iPad. If one were making a prediction, one might suggest Sony will be out of the ereader business by the time Pottermore formally launches in October.

[EatingPie]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

...Sony is not "the devil" and I haven't see anyone claim that they are, so please feel free to tone down the rhetoric, mmkay?

As I said, they were called "the devil" in this thread. In my defense, here is the (edited) original post on this tangent...

Originally Posted by ibm650

A few comments
Dealing with Sony is like dealing with the devil, rootkit on cd, eliminating linux on psx, not protecting user data.

I agree the rhetorical use of the term "devil" is silly. When I used it, I was being a bit snarky and referring back to this original post.

-Pie

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

On the ereader side, it did an incremental refresh of only two models last year and has effectively withdrawn from markets around the world, shedding partners as important as Walmart and Best Buy. The Sony Style stores in the US and Canada now only carry the 5" non-wifi touch PRS-350 in one colour ... all other models have been discontinued or are perpetually out of stock. Meanwhile, Amazon, B&N and Kobo have worked very hard to expand their base in the past year, even in the face of Agency fiasco and the launch of the iPad. If one were making a prediction, one might suggest Sony will be out of the ereader business by the time Pottermore formally launches in October.

Apart from the fact that North America isn't the world... in the UK my local Waterstones has rarely been out of stock of 350s and currently has quantities of both pink and silver in stock...

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

*rides up on high horse, wearing top hat and monocle* cloppity cloppity..

What you read is more important than how much.

Not when you are 8. And not when how much=0.

Potter readers moved on to Twilight, then Confessions of a Shopaholic.

cite?

I would replace HP with the likes of Peter S. Beagle, Michael Ende, Shirley Jackson, Philip Pullman, Madeleine L'Engle, and others. There are even many contemporary superiors like Darren Shan, M.T. Anderson, Rick Yancey. I'm not talking about dry classics, here, but a world of delightful, inspired young adult literature that engages the reader with artful prose and substance, in addition to providing entertainment. But that stuff requires parents or teachers who themselves appreciate good fiction, and are capable of offering guidance.

I like those books, too. But I don't really think that reading "A Wrinkle in Time" as a kid had any more real effect on me than reading HP would have.

I don't think Potter is bad. It's just not very good, and there's enough very good, even great fiction out there that there's no excuse for fluff.

Then again, I'm just some random jerk being contrary for the sake of it.

Also top posting is evil.

If the kids aren't interested in reading the better literature, it is just so much paper.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by EatingPie

As I said, they were called "the devil" in this thread. In my defense, here is the (edited) original post on this tangent...

I agree the rhetorical use of the term "devil" is silly. When I used it, I was being a bit snarky and referring back to this original post.

-Pie

<nitpick>

"Dealing with the devil" is not the same thing as being "the devil".

I.e., dealing with Bob is like dealing with the devil -- you may think you're getting a good deal, but you're really not.

As opposed to, Bob is the devil. He will literally stab you with a giant pitchfork and roast you over an open flame. Watch out for that.

</nitpick>

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by elcreative

Apart from the fact that North America isn't the world... in the UK my local Waterstones has rarely been out of stock of 350s and currently has quantities of both pink and silver in stock...

Yup, you are quite right that Waterstones has credible stock of both the 650 and 350 models, according to their online inventory tool. And there is no question there is life outside of North America.

But the fact that Sony's own stores in the US and Canada, and virtually its entire retail distribution channel (Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc), has effectively stopped carrying the ereaders or, as in the case of the Sony branded stores, only carries the PRS-350 ... is suggestive that Sony is reprioritizing its business. Time will tell.

[Dulin's Books]

or they are preparing for a new model

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

or they are preparing for a new model

Yes, a very likely alternate theory although it's very odd they would abandon so many of their established retail channels. To be out of stock for a week or two is one thing, but to be delisted for a few months is quite another. If these are supply constraints, they have been going on for much longer than any Product Manager could tolerate. In the absence of direct evidence of a new model line coming, a new model showing up any sooner than September seems remote. Walmart US is still trying to get rid of 300 series models.

[sonyreaderfan]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

From the original post:
The OP also slipped in the keyword "could" when it listed Sony ereaders might be Potterised. It is the Sony content division, not hardware, that is engaged with Ms Rowling; There are lots of things -- Potter on the PS3 and on the PS3 network -- which would make far more sense than selling a reskinned Sony ereader.

Lastly, there is absolutely zero evidence that Sony even intends to stay in the ereader / ebook business. They have done nothing to advance their ebook store experience in more than a year nor anything to expand the ability for the store to appear on many other devices in the way its chief competitors have.

This thread gives some rumors about future Sony Reader...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1630043

Well, if Sony discontinues their ereaders I'll look to Nook or Kindle. Kobo ereader is cheap but it has too many compromises with sideloaded books.

[Ditchleyportrait]

Originally Posted by sonyreaderfan

This thread gives some rumors about future Sony Reader...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1630043

Well, if Sony discontinues their ereaders I'll look to Nook or Kindle. Kobo ereader is cheap but it has too many compromises with sideloaded books.

definitely go nook imo. the nook str is beastmode or even nook 1. if they do a redux of the nook 1 that would be great. ppl were right when they said bn had a good thing going with the small lcd screen and big eink screen.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ditchleyportrait

definitely go nook imo. the nook str is beastmode or even nook 1. if they do a redux of the nook 1 that would be great. ppl were right when they said bn had a good thing going with the small lcd screen and big eink screen.

The nook STR has a suboptimal font rendering engine. So that makes it a non-player in the reader ways (IMHO).

[sonyreaderfan]

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

From the original post:

As far as I know, Kobo is the only one of the four leading ereaders that supports epub, mobi, pdf DRM free so perhaps we all ought just buy a Kobo Touch to read our favourite Harry Potter.

I don't know if Kobo's decision to limit features on sideloaded books, especially dictionary, is a corporate decision to induce book purchases off kobo ebookstore, but the limitations would severely hinder the educational experience of reading Harry Potter. Imagine if you give HP books to your kid to read, she/he wouldn't be able to look up word definitions to build his/her vocabulary, or highlight to make notes.

In the future, if sideloaded drm-free books are the way to go (i.e. authors sell directly cutting out the middle-man), Kobo would have shot itself in the foot with the sideload limitations. Hope Kobo comes around and removes the limitations on sideloaded contents, seeing how they now let you change fonts on sideloaded contents.