Review of the cybook on TFOT

[HarryT]

Has to be a matter of personal perception, I think. For me personally, it's a bargain. For someone else, it might be ridiculously expensive. The same goes for most things.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Has to be the Kindle because of mentioning high-priced. The 505 is cheaper then the Gen3 and the Kindle so in that case, it's not high-priced vs the Gen3.

Um, the example was "closed model, weak catalog, high-priced device." The Kindle isn't totally closed (it takes .mobi/.prc files, .azw files, txt files and has a free conversion service for other formats). It has a very large catalog and is adding more everyday. And didn't they buy mobipocket? So it's not totally unreasonable to think that that the Kindle would eventually support DRM'd mobi files. It is expensive, but it's the wireless that adds the expense, and the other readers (except the iliad?!) don't have that.

I have to lean towards the idea that they are talking about the Sony in their example. I could be wrong though. Hey I'm usually wrong!

I think that mobi is sort of the de facto standard for ebooks and by Sony not embracing that (so far) is a mistake. Maybe even a deadly mistake on their part.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Has to be a matter of personal perception, I think. For me personally, it's a bargain. For someone else, it might be ridiculously expensive. The same goes for most things.

I agree. I think the "expensive" perception is because the first thought is that they don't spend that much money on books now. I mean, hey a paperback is $6 or so right?!

But I'm sure that if they are avid readers and they add up the time/expense driving around getting and buying their books, plus the expense of all the books they have bought, the $400 comes out a bargain. Now there are some people who ONLY go to libraries--so for them an e-ink device may be an expensive alternative. But for me personally, the convenience (size, dictionary, ease of use) more than makes up for the price. Not to mention all the great free books we have here...

[moz]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Without 3rd party conversion software Sony would be out of the e-book business by now, but this software provides enough "openness" for the PRS-505 to be viable.

But that makes nonsense of the "closed" comment. My feeling is that we're still in early adopter territory where most of the users will tweak stuff to get what they want. Just look at the resistance to DRM.

My expectation is that over time the conversion software with most readers will get broader, and we will probably see a common, open format that's wide accepted. The open will be driven at least in part by Gutenberg and other open, free sources, and partly by book pirates (including those who rip pbooks that they own).

[JSWolf]

But are not all eBook readers closed and considered expensive? The iLiad is the only one that is not closed.

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But are not all eBook readers closed and considered expensive? The iLiad is the only one that is not closed.

I guess I kinda got the thread off on this tangent by cutting and pasting from the interview about the failed Cytale.

Here's what they had to say just above the first quote I posted:

"Bookeen was created in April 2003 by Laurent Picard and myself. Laurent and I have worked in the e-book industry since 1998. We were part of the first French company, Cytale, that developed an e-book reader: a 10-inch LCD color screen with touch-screen capability—a kind of TabletPC light version or iRex in color. Cytale developed from scratch a whole distribution chain, from the digital-conversion service for a publisher to the hardware device. We developed our own format based on OEB (something very close to the current Adobe .epub format), our own DRM system (based on the well-known PGP model and used by every current serious DRM provider), our own e-book store, and our own device. Cytale’s value rose to 11 million euros (about $17 million), and they had 49 people on staff (only three of us were dedicated to the hardware, and Laurent and I were among these three). The device was on sale by the end of 2000, was sold for 1,000 euros (about $1,500), and was able to read only the Cytale format, offering 1,500 French titles in their catalog. The company did not succeed and was forced to close its doors in July 2002."

and the original quote, expanded:

"Now it seems obvious to everyone why Cytale has failed, but if you observe the current market, you can see that some of the actors are still going through the same story: closed model, weak catalog, high-priced device. At the end of Cytale, Laurent and I decided to offer a second chance to the Cybook, and we launched Bookeen. Our first step was to open the device to many digital formats; by doing so, we immediately increased the number of digital documents that can be read on the Cybook."

So the Cytale used a proprietary format and was incompatible with any other format. With Cybook, they wanted to make sure it could be used with as many formats as fiscally feasible given the cost of the device.

I still kinda see Sony referred to in their remarks, although they could be talking about the high price of the Iliad. They mention the Cytale was a $1500 color device which could only read its own catalog of 1500 books. It could not be used for any other format or function.

Anyhoo, the thread sorta went the way of a lot on this board, sort of 'defend your device' and trash the other guys.

Personally, I've got two makes of devices in my house with a third on the way and they all are great gadgets, worthy of the praise heaped on them my loyal owners.

We are all early adopters of a new-fangled device. The passion engendered by one's own device and the scorn heaped on a rival device reminds me of the late 50's-early 60's when users were very snobbish about their stereo equipment, and if you didn't own the 'right' equipment other owners looked down their noses at your 'sorry stuff'.

By the mid-60's <everyone> had a decent system and fights were rare and 'uncool'.

[Halk]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Has to be a matter of personal perception, I think. For me personally, it's a bargain. For someone else, it might be ridiculously expensive. The same goes for most things.

I'm in your camp. For me it's worth it. However it's expensive. If I was struggling with my finances then I'd probably be able to keep myself going with books, but not afford to outlay nearly 300 quid for this.

As well as that libraries are free, and books are cheap.

If this device was bought to save money on buying books then you'd have to be reading classics or otherwise hundreds of books to make the cost up.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Halk

If this device was bought to save money on buying books then you'd have to be reading classics or otherwise hundreds of books to make the cost up.

I read eBooks not to save money, but to save SPACE. I live in a small house, and don't have room for many paper books. I have something like 20,000 eBooks on a small external USB hard disk.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I read eBooks not to save money, but to save SPACE. I live in a small house, and don't have room for many paper books. I have something like 20,000 eBooks on a small external USB hard disk.

Exactly my situation. And what makes it worse is I still have a couple thousand dead tree books that I'm weeding out. Why, you ask? Because the 'living space' I have is such that TWO of my four-foot by eight-foot bookshelves are stuffed to the gills - outside in the friggin' garage!!!

That means they're soaking up massive temperature and humidity swings throughout the year. That's not quite so bad on the hardcovers, but the conditions play hell on the mass-market paperbacks. So, the more I can switch over to electronic format, the more I can take off the shelves.

Ideally, I'd like to have just my technical trade paperback and my hardcovers on the shelves inside the house and replace each and every one of my MMPBs with ebook versions. It's taking time, but I hope to get an OpticBook scanner to speed the conversion process.

So yes, I'd much rather have ebooks than dead-tree at this time.

Derek