Review 9-6-2006

[ath]

Originally Posted by Riocaz

For someone "respected" and "tech-savvy" diddn't realise that the documentation was on the iLiad.

Do you know, or are you guessing? For my own part, I knew immediately where the documentation was ... but I couldn't make the on-switch work.

And the on-switch to a first-time user is that round button in the upper right corner. When that doesn't work, it's any obvious button on the back (which there aren't any), and then it's the guess that just perhaps one of the other front buttons may double as a power-on switch as well.

It was not until I could read the text beneath the real on-off switch that I was able to turn it on, and even that took a few more tries than I liked: I can't remember any other device that uses this kind of half-hidden slide-switch that can't be operated unless I use a tool. Identifying it required both a good source of light, and that I took my glasses off ("... black buttons, labelled in black on a black background ... " comes to mind). Good design means the on-switch should be identified unambiguously without such close-up views, and operated without recourse to matches or pencils or similar tools. There are even standard symbols and colours to use for the purpose ...

And when you take into account that the battery may be depleted, and need to be recharged ... well, you don't place 'read this first' information on the device you can't use for reading it.

No, I largely agree with the review: the iLiad box badly needs a sheet that explains these things. Noone wants the first user action to be a call to support for help: that is a major downer.

My first impression of the iLiad was largely submerged in the excitement of seeing how it worked. The technology nerd in me likes it and what it stands for, but the user in me ... no, I'll wait for a second-generation device instead.

[pdam]

The article does seem hasty with very little view of the current state and future potential. The point she makes about marketing damage I think is a little harsh - considering the current price and the caveats iRex themselve place around the software - this device isn't really going to be in the hands of the genral public in the short term - just in the hands of electronic publishers and techies for now ...

She does have a good point about A4 PDF's however - nothing to do with the device ... but there is no easy way for joe public, who probably has a lot of A4 PDF or ebooks (to buy this device) to easily read them or convert them to a better format - perhaps iRex should ship some desktop software with the device also??
Zooming of PDf's is possibly a red herring - this wont make the experience of reading scales A4 docs any better in reality - it will just change squinting for moving the document about a lot on screen - rotating and scaling to fit width is perhaps a better solution?

[ath]

Originally Posted by jæd

But if she read all that there was to know about the illiad then she would have hit this forum at some point. And she would know the problems about it, ie the unfinshed software, the lack of being able to read protected pdfs.

Why should that have changed anything? The review is of the product. It doesn't change because there is some third-party forum somewhere that collects useful information. It may help a user getting past any initial hurdles, but don't for a second think it somehow improves the product itself. Any iLiad community is beside the point for this review: the reader's main interest is not anywere but in the product and the company that makes it.

The review notes three major limitations "as currently shipped". Are they wrong? Seem to be what has popped up again and again over the past months.

The author also make clear that she thinks these problems are fixable, and don't damage any long term prospects.

I read the review as critical, but not negative.

The intended audience is not interested in details: they ask 'can I use it'? Only an incurable optimist would commit the mistake of saying what software version will remove the errors identified, or what date that will actually happen, and even promise that it will happen at all. That's for sales people to promise -- they get paid to do so. Even a mention of frequent updates, promised improvements, etc. would weaken the conclusion: 'it's not ready for prime time yet'.

[jæd]

Originally Posted by ath

Why should that have changed anything? The review is of the product. It doesn't change because there is some third-party forum somewhere that collects useful information. It may help a user getting past any initial hurdles, but don't for a second think it somehow improves the product itself. Any iLiad community is beside the point for this review: the reader's main interest is not anywere but in the product and the company that makes it.

It does when the reviewer states she read everything available about the product and then makes several basic mistakes...!

Originally Posted by ath

I read the review as critical, but not negative.

Do you...? I read it as highly inaccurate and misleading...!

[ali]

Originally Posted by jæd

It does when the reviewer states she read everything available about the product and then makes several basic mistakes...!

Do you...? I read it as highly inaccurate and misleading...!

She didn't make several basic mistakes. You guys give me the impression of people screaming "noone may critizise my mother but me! she must be stupid! she can't be tech-savvy! she didn't spend enough time to get to know my mother better!". Calm down guys.

The review states three bad things about the Iliad, and she is right:

1 - the documentation is missing. Even you, jæd, weren't able to turn it on. Read old posts in this forum to find your post where you asked where the on/off switch is. (Sidenode: And stop giving the "dead tree" figures. The impact of high-tech devices on the environment is much, much, much worse than some dead trees. The Iliad is no environment-friendly thing)

2 - the screen displays content in an unreadable font size. the folks at irex did not implement anything to make generally available content readable on the device, even though that would've been possible. In the shop it says: Scalable text. You can change the font size of your text to suit your own reading comfort. (Format and DRM dependant.) I think people will assume that you can scale fonts to a comfortable size in the most prominent, most important, most recognized format the Iliad displays, which is PDF.

3 - it doesn't read protected pdfs, which is a killer for people who need to read protected pdfs. She got a point there. This forum is full of people asking for DRM / protected PDF support.


The review is just a normal review of just one of the dissappointed Iliad customers. She expressed her opinion, and is right in doing so. (Is this one of the "if you're not with us you're against us" things? Too many americans in the forum?). If I bought a mp3 player and see that I have to manually reencode all my mp3's to fit the device's needs, I'd turn it down and say it's shit. Even if there's a forum where most guys happen to listen to the matching 118-kps-mono-mp3's only.


And: "Reading everything" doesn't literally mean "everything". If you read all info in the shop, ask the manufacturer, and possibly newspaper articles and tests, it should be enough. You don't have to read every forum on the internet.

And: Stop claiming that everyone should know it's beta, because:
1 - Finally we have that month where the "final consumer version" was supposed to be available, and
2 - there is a shop that sells the device to everyone. Without "attention beta" disclaimers.
Counting 1+1 together, that looks like the thing in the shop is the thing they announced as final product.

[pdam]

Ali
I agree with you about it being a real review for real people, and about much of what she says as correct, not necessarily in a totally negative, but critical tone.
Simply reading the threads on this forum (which your average user wouldn't) you see that:
--The order and support processes are lengthy and frustrating currently
--The ability to read document types is limited and the user ability to reformat PDFs in A4 or read secure documents with various security mechanisms is also generally limited.
--The software is buggy at present.
--Documentation IS scant by modern standards (take recent iMacs, a great couple of pages to get you plugged in turned on and going with the basics - with the Iliad you have to figure out the basics before you get to the documentation, great for gadget heads who like pressing buttons to see what they do, far less interesting for Joe Public who simply wants an easy to use tool)
She also noted that most of the current issues are not terminal and can all be overcome.
The question of was the device released too early, again is a valid question (as a user I want the company to succeed, which makes me critical of business decisions that could potentially damage success).
What she chose not to point out was the possible potential should all of the issues be fixed, but you have to respect her right to have a viewpoint ...

[Riocaz]

Originally Posted by ali

She didn't make several basic mistakes. You guys give me the impression of people screaming "noone may critizise my mother but me! she must be stupid! she can't be tech-savvy! she didn't spend enough time to get to know my mother better!". Calm down guys.

The review states three bad things about the Iliad, and she is right:

In your opinion.

The fact is she did make several factual errors. Which, in my opinion, invalidates most of her points.

Maybe you agree with her opinion that doesn't make it right it an opinion only. I disagree, that is my opinion and my right.

1 - the documentation is missing. Even you, jæd, weren't able to turn it on. Read old posts in this forum to find your post where you asked where the on/off switch is. (Sidenode: And stop giving the "dead tree" figures. The impact of high-tech devices on the environment is much, much, much worse than some dead trees. The Iliad is no environment-friendly thing)

The on-off switch is clearly marked on-off. No documentation is needed for that. Just a basic grasp of reading.

2 - the screen displays content in an unreadable font size. the folks at irex did not implement anything to make generally available content readable on the device, even though that would've been possible. In the shop it says: Scalable text. You can change the font size of your text to suit your own reading comfort. (Format and DRM dependant.) I think people will assume that you can scale fonts to a comfortable size in the most prominent, most important, most recognized format the Iliad displays, which is PDF.

PDF is the most recognised format? That statement is laughable in itself.

One of maybe.

It's also laughable that people expect to be able to read a full page of a document sized for a4 on a device which is smaller than a5. Downright ridiculous in fact.

3 - it doesn't read protected pdfs, which is a killer for people who need to read protected pdfs. She got a point there. This forum is full of people asking for DRM / protected PDF support.

It was never claimed to. We would like to see it, but she claimed to have read everything and spoken to irex before purchase, yet implies she was unaware of this.

The review is just a normal review of just one of the dissappointed Iliad customers. She expressed her opinion, and is right in doing so. (Is this one of the "if you're not with us you're against us" things? Too many americans in the forum?). If I bought a mp3 player and see that I have to manually reencode all my mp3's to fit the device's needs, I'd turn it down and say it's shit. Even if there's a forum where most guys happen to listen to the matching 118-kps-mono-mp3's only.

What like the first Sony digital music players (which were sold by stores as "mp3 players") which diddn't in fact play MP3.

No one has said she diddn't have an opinion. It's that she was factually incorrect in several areas. And as such is misleading

And: "Reading everything" doesn't literally mean "everything". If you read all info in the shop, ask the manufacturer, and possibly newspaper articles and tests, it should be enough. You don't have to read every forum on the internet.

Again another laughable statement.

Mobileread was listed above iRex for several months. Many other sites were pointing here when Henrique was posting his reviews and answering questions.

If she missed that then she is either blind or simply did not look

When I buy something, I investigate to the extent of my ability. She is implying that she did the same. Yet I found my way here and she diddn't

And: Stop claiming that everyone should know it's beta, because:

How about you stop telling me and others what we can and can't say.

You've done it several times and franky it is really annoying downright rude.

1 - Finally we have that month where the "final consumer version" was supposed to be available, and

This comment is utterly pointless. yes we are, and ooh look the current firmware is (as I stated in my comments) in my opinion close to something that can be called final.

2 - there is a shop that sells the device to everyone. Without "attention beta" disclaimers.
Counting 1+1 together, that looks like the thing in the shop is the thing they announced as final product.

And if you have read my comments you will note that 2.6.1 is the first point where I would have said it's close to final, and I noted that they have now removed the statement that the software is not final.

That doesn't change the fact that this change is RECENT(e.g. within the last couple of weeks) and thus when she purchased hers she will have made the same agreement as the rest of us. Yet she makes no mention of it.

The iLiad and iRex do have problems. I have no issue with someone complaining about them (Hell iRex's support is utterly crap, and the battery life is still half what they claimed it would be) but I do have a problem with a highly respected e-book site publishing a misleading and inaccurate review.

My problem isn't that the review was critical, but that it was innaccurate, and failed to mention relevant information (Such as iRex's speed at putting out firmware updates or the fact that she agreed to buy it knowing the software wasn't final).

[pdam]

...In fact the feedback should be good for iRex - it gives them some valuable feedback from a potential business partner - they have an interested, if slightly dissapointed party to whom they can ask the question "What do we need to fix to get you to publish your electronic material for the Iliad?"

[jæd]

Originally Posted by ali

1 - the documentation is missing. Even you, jæd, weren't able to turn it on. Read old posts in this forum to find your post where you asked where the on/off switch is.

Originally Posted by Review

The documentation did not come with the device. The only paper was a 5×7 sheet that welcomes you to the world of electronic reading and then warns you that if the iLiad runs out of power your unit will be irrevocably damaged. Interestingly enough, there is no indication that you should charge the machine before turning it on, or indeed, how to do that.

There is documentaion on the device. And she's misread the only piece of paper documentation. This is why I claim her review is inaccurate...

Yep, the on-switch could be made more obvious. I've never disagreed with that...! But I've never misled someone about the documentation that came with the device...

Originally Posted by Review

2 - the screen displays content in an unreadable font size. the folks at irex did not implement anything to make generally available content readable on the device, even though that would've been possible.

Depends what you call an unreadable font size... If you use A5 documents then the font size is quite readable. An Irex have said they will be implementing zooming real soon now...

Originally Posted by Review

3 - it doesn't read protected pdfs, which is a killer for people who need to read protected pdfs. She got a point there. This forum is full of people asking for DRM / protected PDF support.

Have Irex ever stated that it does...?

Originally Posted by ali

The review is just a normal review of just one of the dissappointed Iliad customers. She expressed her opinion, and is right in doing so. (Is this one of the "if you're not with us you're against us" things? Too many americans in the forum?). If I bought a mp3 player and see that I have to manually reencode all my mp3's to fit the device's needs, I'd turn it down and say it's shit. Even if there's a forum where most guys happen to listen to the matching 118-kps-mono-mp3's only.

Interestingly enough, I bought one of the early mp3 players. Its battery life was terrible (1 x AA battery lasterd five hours) and it wouldn't play mp3 that weren't encoded at 128 kps... Yep it was a bit shit, but like the illiad for e-readers, it was one of the very few mp3 players available.

Originally Posted by ali

And: "Reading everything" doesn't literally mean "everything". If you read all info in the shop, ask the manufacturer, and possibly newspaper articles and tests, it should be enough. You don't have to read every forum on the internet.

Well... If you promote yourself as a tech-savvy e-publishing person, I expect you to a search on what you are reviewing. And for me this forum is in the top five results for "irex illiad". And its not like there's a ton of information about the illiad on the Internet...!

And yes, I can take critical reviews of illiad, its just misleading and inaccurate one I don't like...! Yep, the illiad is a bit "shit", but since I purchased mine its slowly got better...

[pdam]

User perception is everything ... you shouldn't have to sell a good tool to people, they will buy it.

Generally my own opinion is that this device is a very good piece of design - but arguing that the on/off switch is clearly marked?? It's hardly intuitive ...

I'm sure, as a tech savvy e-publishing person, she would review the device with a thought to it's potential amongst her own customers, who may well be less tech savvy than she.

Her own perception is not inaccurate, it's hers. Arguing about factually inaccurate details, that probably wouldn't change the thrust of the article, I personally don't feel makes the author misleading or irresponsible, over hasty in her review, perhaps, missleading - no.

I do agree that the Iliad is progressing in leaps and bounds, and I'm very much enjoying mine .. but most on this forum are early adopters, more than happy to live with a few flaws - the general public are probably a lot less tolerant ...

... An interesting thread so far :-)

[Riocaz]

Generally my opinion is that this device is a very good piece of design - but arguing that the on/off switch is clearly marked?? It's hardly intuitive ...

It was for me, I looked for an on-off switch, and there is was :-)

[pdam]

A better man than I - I was first handed a device that was already turned on, it took me a while to figure out how to turn it off .. :-(

[Riocaz]

Whats intuative to some, isn't to others. We can only go by our own experiences :-)

[pdam]

... or do user centered design research ... take a look at how apple design physical products.

[Riocaz]

Not everyone finds the iPod a great piece of design, and they nicked the user interface from Creative (and got sued for it).

I'm glad irex went with te design they did. It's basic and functional. Had they gone with an apple inspird design it would have been day-glo and annoying :-) Like most apple products.