The depressing history of Sony's Connect Software - CNET - "An Unmitigated Disaster"

[yvanleterrible]

Connect software is not that bad, it does what it's supposed to do 95%.
Examples. I have two screens. It does everything correctly only when I use the main screen, on the other it balks or has disappearing dialog boxes.
Some functionalities that should be instantaneous or work in the background, take forever ie. When you ask it to upload files to the reader all other software actions are suspended until the upload is done. You have to watch it finish just to be able to browse through content. And sometimes it's long even with USB2.
Connect is the Achille's heel or the Reader, it should be replaced before the actual Reader.
I admit that I have been spoiled by the sleekness of iTunes that I love. But I do remind myself that the Connect is new in a new market that has'nt yet proven it will endure, and that iTunes has had years to finetune (sounds funny )

As the ReaderShip (pun intended) grows, the software programming crew will grow also. Permitting smoother and sleeker performance, oh! and better graphic appearance would'nt do harm either.

The device in itself is quite complete and asides from color eink display and animation at that time, it needs only some button placement tweeking.
Every reading person has always read a book the same way it's culture intended. Meaning that even if you're left handed, when you read because of the direction of text flow, you turn pages with your right hand while holding the book with the left. It has always been. I still can't figure why Sony has us turn pages with the left hand. It is a built up ingrained reflex that we have to unconciously turn pages with the right hand; why change it?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Fugubot

I don't see the need to divide users into camps of "optimists" and critics. Criticism is not a test of allegiance and almost everyone here has already bought into Sony's hardware-software ecosystem - flaws and all.

I'd say that the main "camps" one finds on this forum are those who want to use the Reader primarily as a means of reading the "latest and greatest" in commercial eBooks vs those who want it as a device for reading their own content.

Those of us for whom the Reader is merely the latest in a long line of "reading machines" starting from the earliest hand-held devices (Pocket PC or Palm machines, or even earlier) on which we read our own stuff (eg PG books) probably aren't really too bothered about how good the Connect Store is or what the range of commercial eBooks is, because we tend not to buy them.

Those who are coming to the Reader as their first experience of e-Books, from reading "dead tree" books, probably have as their primary concern the availability of the type of books they'd probably be buying from book shops.

[NatCh]

Fugobot, I get what you're saying about Sony's history, and I'm not disputing it at all, but I would like to point out some recent departures from that historical performance that I see as hopeful signs that the Reader group might just be different from what we've seen from Sony in the past.

When, besides the Reader, have ever seen Sony actually ask for and answer questions from the prospective user base? Not just here, but on a couple of other forums as well. (though most of the questions do seem to have come from MR )

They seemed to respond to our initial reports of prices being out of line with p-book prices. Granted the fixes seem to have been temporary in a lot of cases (which largely negates the point), but they did make them.

RWood reported (and there have been some corroborating indications) that there is in fact an update to the ConnSoft and Reader firmware in the works, and it's expected shortly. I don't find the absence of a software/firmware update in the first 3 months of a product's launch to be discouraging -- this wasn't a beta release, after all! If anything, word of an update of some sort in the first 4 months, from a group that has demonstrated that they are willing to listen to what we're saying here, seems extremely encouraging to me.

Part of the reason that the forum seems to have "encouraged the belief that Sony will be responsive to user comments" is because they actually have been responsive to user comments around here. Your point that this isn't typical of what Sony has done in the past is well taken, but in the more recent past, it is what this division of Sony has actually done. Of course there's no guarantee that it will continue, but that's another question.

Originally Posted by Fugubot

Sony has traditionally moved on to the next version of a product rather than fixing old ones and the announcement yesterday of a wifi enabled Reader makes me worry that this cycle is happening again.

While the wifi thing was speculation on the writer's part, I take your point here. I'm a bit concerned about that too.

On the other hand, some of the comments by one of the product managers in that article in the Chronicle of Higher Education makes me wonder if they aren't thinking in terms of a more academically oriented model, nekokami's notional
academic tool , if you will.

Specifically, this snippet from the Chronical of Higher Education:

"The Reader was designed for more the type of reader who just reads a book on vacation and less as an academic tool," says David Seperson, a product manager at Sony who works on the Reader device. It will take more research to develop a device suitable for college work, he adds. "We are looking into what's the best way to approach the higher-education market."

You're quite right that we shouldn't give Sony the benefit of the doubt when their past actions don't leave much doubt, but I also think that we should give credit where it's due on the recent things the Reader group has actually done to try and bridge that gap. No it doesn't make up for everything in the past, but it seems to me to suggest that they'd like to stop being so evil (to co-opt and paraphrase Google's new motto, and one of The Tick's catch phrases).

[L1Wulf]

Wonderful discussion and well put by Fugubot, Yvanleterrible and NatCh. Very compelling arguments Fugubot, but as NatCh points out, if Sony started off treating this as "business as usual" I doubt there'd be much of a conversation here, but it does seem that, just maybe, they might be walking a different trail this time.

Time will tell... and I hope it tells me something good.

[KlondikeGeoff]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Every reading person has always read a book the same way it's culture intended. Meaning that even if you're left handed, when you read because of the direction of text flow, you turn pages with your right hand while holding the book with the left. It has always been. I still can't figure why Sony has us turn pages with the left hand.

Don't forget, with Japanese books you turn the pages the opposite way, starting at the "back" of the book. When they started the Japanese version, they probably had no idea they would move into the Western market with an English version.

The Japanese have a lot of nifty devices that are only sold in Japan. I have a great little Panasonic laptop with a 10 inch screen that only weighs 2.2 lbs and has a battery life of nine hours. Not sold here.

[yvanleterrible]

What puzzles me is that this design is touted as US made.