Jetbook with New Formats Now at Bed Bath and Beyond

[acj412]

I agree with JSWolf. Even if I disagreed with him, I think it's uncalled for to subtract Karma from him. His tone has always been reasonable. Moreover, as far as I can tell he has not said anything false about the Jetbook. If he has, I would like to see a rebuttal to those points. He's not making comments about the technical aspects, how he enjoys reading from it, battery life etc. His primary comment is that the Jetbook doesn't advertise the lack of DRM books, and how that makes the Jetbook unable to read most bestsellers (Twilight, Lord of the Rings, etc). You don't need to have tested it to make that point, and as far as I have seen, none of the Jetbook proponents have put forth any convincing arguments as to why people who might be interested in Jetbook would not be interested in most modern bestsellers, or borrowing books from the library (excluding people who know how to crack DRM).

[wodin]

Originally Posted by wodin

Well, I dropped the hammer on a Graphite JetBook at Newegg. Now I'm in that absolutely agonizing mode of “IS IT HERE YET? I WANT IT NOW!!!”
After all, they have my money, why can't I have my Jetbook now?

Well its "IN TRANSIT TO[I] VERNON, CA, US" from "EDISON, NJ, US"

Think it'll be here this afternoon?

Originally Posted by acj412

I agree with JSWolf. Even if I disagreed with him, I think it's uncalled for to subtract Karma from him. His tone has always been reasonable. Moreover, as far as I can tell he has not said anything false about the Jetbook. If he has, I would like to see a rebuttal to those points. He's not making comments about the technical aspects, how he enjoys reading from it, battery life etc. His primary comment is that the Jetbook doesn't advertise the lack of DRM books, and how that makes the Jetbook unable to read most bestsellers (Twilight, Lord of the Rings, etc).

JFWolf stated earlier that Ectaco was "lying". I don't think that was a reasonable statement and it is this accusation that I have an issue with. Do you really think its appropriate here?

Originally Posted by acj412

You don't need to have tested it to make that point, and as far as I have seen, none of the Jetbook proponents have put forth any convincing arguments as to why people who might be interested in Jetbook would not be interested in most modern bestsellers, or borrowing books from the library (excluding people who know how to crack DRM).

I don't buy this argument that everyone must be able to read bestsellers on the Jetbook. Let the buyers make the decision if it fits their needs. The information is out there. And what worthy, positive contribution to this thread about the Jetbook (which still does not have its own forum!!!!? Nate?) is there with attempts to smear Ectaco?

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by akira28

I don't buy this argument that everyone must be able to read bestsellers on the Jetbook. Let the buyers make the decision if it fits their needs. The information is out there.

Actually, I agree with Jon (JSWolf). People are going to see the package in the store, think "Cool -- it's cheaper than that thing my friend has" and buy it. They they'll be upset that it can't read the same books that a Kindle (or whatever they've seen advertised) can read. People buying things from a shelf in a store aren't necessarily the type who will research in advance. *That* type usually buys online, anyway! (which is beside the point)

[wodin]

Why do you suppose NewEgg instituted the non-refund policy?

Originally Posted by NewEgg

Return Policies
This item is covered by NewEgg.com's Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy.

Return for refund within: non-refundable
Return for replacement within: 30 days

D'ya think maybe they are anticipating a lot of disgruntled folks? It's no skin off NewEgg's nose if people are P.O.ed at JetBook, long as they can sell out their allotment!

And why do you suppose they're expecting a lot of disgruntled folks? Testimony in this forum indicates that the JetBook is a quality product; it just doesn’t perform as its advertizing implies that it will.

I have DRM stripping capability, and I can live with its shortcomings in order to enjoy its advantages. Most people do not and cannot!

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Actually, I agree with Jon (JSWolf). People are going to see the package in the store, think "Cool -- it's cheaper than that thing my friend has" and buy it. They they'll be upset that it can't read the same books that a Kindle (or whatever they've seen advertised) can read. People buying things from a shelf in a store aren't necessarily the type who will research in advance. *That* type usually buys online, anyway! (which is beside the point)

No one should be upset knowing that you can bring it back to BBB for a refund if you don't like it. And besides I know that person you are talking about and they don't read bestsellers either and they love it.

[acj412]

Originally Posted by akira28

JFWolf stated earlier that Ectaco was "lying". I don't think that was a reasonable statement and it is this accusation that I have an issue with. Do you really think its appropriate here?

Well, LYING is a strong word (although personally I can't get worked up over someone accusing a company of lying, as opposed to someone accusing a forum member of lying.) Although, having looked over their website just now, I must agree that it is at the least MISLEADING.

If you look at their comparison between Jetbook and the Sony/Amazon, they claim that on the Jetbook, books are FREE while you have to pay for them with Sony Reader/Kindle. On the face of it, it makes the Jetbook a no-brainer. Why would anyone pay for books on the other devices when you can get books for free on the Jetbook? They neglect to mention that pretty much any book that is available free for the Jetbook can also be read with the Kindle or the Reader. Also, they neglect to mention that many of the books that cost money on the Reader/Kindle cannot be read, for ANY cost, on the Jetbook, and that these books include the ones that are most popular. So, while there is no falsehood on the website, per se, it is definitely misleading, especially to those who are not tech savvy.

Originally Posted by akira28

I don't buy this argument that everyone must be able to read bestsellers on the Jetbook. Let the buyers make the decision if it fits their needs. The information is out there. And what worthy, positive contribution to this thread about the Jetbook (which still does not have its own forum!!!!? Nate?) is there with attempts to smear Ectaco?

That's fine. Not everyone needs to be reading bestsellers. The point JSWolf was trying to make is that the average person, who is not especially techy, will not realize that the Jetbook will not let them read most of what they want to read. How many people know what DRM even means? Although people can do research, if they rely solely on the information provided on the ECTACO website they are in for an unpleasant surprise. These people will see the Jetbook at BedBath and Beyond, think that they can read Twilight or Outliers on the device, only to be sorely disappointed. Clearly you and kris777 have done your research, and are happy with the device. That's great, and for many people the Jetbook will be a great device. But, for those who don't have the knowledge/desire to strip DRM, and for those who would like to sprinkle a little modern reading into their libraries, the Jetbook falls short.

Originally Posted by acj412

They neglect to mention that pretty much any book that is available free for the Jetbook can also be read with the Kindle or the Reader. Also, they neglect to mention that many of the books that cost money on the Reader/Kindle cannot be read, for ANY cost, on the Jetbook, and that these books include the ones that are most popular. So, while there is no falsehood on the website, per se, it is definitely misleading, especially to those who are not tech savvy.

This is not misleading at all. Why should Ectaco state this? Does the Sony Reader website state that their all their Gutenberg books can already be read on your Palm/smartphone/Jetbook? Do the Sony or Kindle websites state that if you change devices to a different brand all the books you bought with DRM would be rendered worthless? If they don't then by the same measurement you must come to the same conclusions: Sony and Amazon are also misleading.

[Ankh]

Originally Posted by acj412

The point JSWolf was trying to make is that the average person, who is not especially techy, will not realize that the Jetbook will not let them read most of what they want to read.

But isn't that true for ANY ebook reader platform? Not everything that is available in print can be had as an ebook.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Ankh

But isn't that true for ANY ebook reader platform? Not everything that is available in print can be had as an ebook.

That's very true, but there are still tens or hundreds of thousands of DRM eBooks available for sale.

[acj412]

Originally Posted by akira28

This is not misleading at all. Why should Ectaco state this? Does the Sony Reader website state that their all their Gutenberg books can already be read on your Palm/smartphone/Jetbook? Do the Sony or Kindle websites state that if you change devices to a different brand all the books you bought with DRM would be rendered worthless? If they don't then by the same measurement you must come to the same conclusions: Sony and Amazon are also misleading.

As to your first point, it WOULD be misleading if they were doing a head to head comparison with the Jetbook, didn't mention the Jetbook's ability to read Gutenberg books, and advertised their ability to do so. That would be misleading, because the implication then would be the ability of the Sony to read Gutenberg books was an advantage over Jetbook. Here, they don't generally advertise their ability to read Gutenberg books, nor do they compare themselves to the Jetbook, so the analogy fails.

I suppose you could argue that the 100 Sony free classics or the Sony-google collaboration might be misleading, in that they tout the availability of those classics as an advantage while in truth they were available for free elsewhere. But who cares? I wasn't claiming that Sony or Amazon were perfect, and it wouldn't offend me if you accused them of false advertising either.

As far as your second point, it is a good one. As I said before, both Sony and Amazon are not perfect, and I think DRM is an anti-consumer technology. But in the end, I suspect that more people will be disappointed by the fact that they can't read the book at all on the Jetbook than the possibility that their DRM'ed book may not work on a future device.

To give an analogy: people may have been disappointed by iTunes's old DRM policy, especially when they got locked out of their old music purchases by accident (too many authoizations). However, I bet most people would still have preferred the iPOD, even knowing the limitations of DRM, to a music player that could only play music in the public domain as well as a few obscure indy bands (especially if you couldn't burn CDs that you bought to your player).

[sirbruce]

I don't think it's misleading that they don't say they don't support DRM. I *do* think it's misleading to suggest that people can request books that they want and they'll search the Internet to try to get them. That's very deceptive.

[badgoodDeb]

One of the people here-in who have purchase one --- might serve as good guinea pigs. Err, test subjects. They could request "The Hobbit", for instance..... (or whatever is only avaialble in DRM forms)

[badgoodDeb]

Just found this nifty "formats and what's compatible" list, on booksonboard. Very helpful chart.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

One of the people here-in who have purchase one --- might serve as good guinea pigs. Err, test subjects. They could request "The Hobbit", for instance.....

I like that idea. It would give us the answer to that very question of "What if we request an eBook we know is sold with DRM?"