Today is the last day of May! - Page 3

VillageReader · 05-31-2006, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by High 5

I'm not..
Were all doomed.
Doomed I tells ya!!
[insert maniacal laughter here]

I notice you have a Cybook, which is available. How do you like it?

Drops · 05-31-2006, 10:12 AM

Irex has a very bad business habit. I was looking at their device for our company since March. Today is indeed the last day of May and it looks like Irex has lied again. Looks like the "Delay due to webshop problems" reason was not true from the beginning.

Since we don't want to do business with them anymore, I'll have to look elsewhere for a ebook device. Very sad, I really liked the technical specs of the Illiad but my boss will never allow us to buy there. Just imagine if there is a problem with the reader and you contact the company and get the same (non-) reactions like now...

CommanderROR · 05-31-2006, 10:15 AM

hmm...the lady at irex told me that the b2b part is already open...so you should have received positive feedback when asking them as representative of your company...very strange that.

She really said that it has been released for business customers already...I always thought that it was only used in trial runs, but her words seemed to mean something else..but os course there is always room for (mis)interpretation.

High 5 · 05-31-2006, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VillageReader

I notice you have a Cybook, which is available. How do you like it?

It's big and heavy.
Definitely not a device to carry around with you all day.
Clear and crisp reading but at a price: you need a small powerplant to go with it.
I must leave it plugged in to the power every (!) night.
the device resets if the battery runs out (about 1 to 3 hours).
It is impossible to read the backlit screen outdoors if the sun shines.
Apart from that, it can handle quite a lot of textformats and the after sales service is very, very good.

It has all sorts of nice features that you'll never use.

Stuart Young · 05-31-2006, 10:17 AM

You'd think a Company the size of Irex would do something to stem the bad press. For all we know one of the posters here may be a CEO or CTO, e.g. someone with some hefty purchasing power. - You'd be mad not to think twice about buying from them. - ok when I say bad press I mean word of mouth generated by forums likes this.

CommanderROR · 05-31-2006, 10:18 AM

@High 5

would you mind calling irex and trying to get a statement from them (end of May and stuff...)
as I said before, I think somebody who can talk to them in their native language could do the best job of dragging an answer out of them...possibly...

Stuart Young · 05-31-2006, 10:24 AM

I called them about 20 minutes ago, it was actually Loeki who answered. Standard reply she didnt know when then webshop would be open only saying 'soon'. Oh an that I should leave my email address for a notification.

:-/

CommanderROR · 05-31-2006, 10:25 AM

great...any reaction on the "end of May" topic or did you forget to ask (like I did last time I phoned)?

Stuart Young · 05-31-2006, 10:33 AM

I didnt specifically mention end of May.

CCDMan · 05-31-2006, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Ah well, the day is still young.

Well, not anymore. Nearly end of business in Europe now.

Why do ALL of these companies have their head up thier butt?

At least I voted correctly in the poll! <g>

CommanderROR · 05-31-2006, 10:44 AM

yes...this seems to be an increasing problem...companies not talking to their customers, not replying to service requests or technical questiones...service in general is going downhill.
There are other examples however...like the big Graphics Cards manufactureres that have fianally learned that "paper-launches" can harm their image pretty badly. Both ATI and Nvidia habe managed to get rid of that bad habit for their latest line of Video Cards...so there is hope...at least for some issues and from some companies.

The trouble is that although iRex has done a very bad job so far, the device itself is still interesting and I'd still like to buy it...and in doing so I will indirectly support their outrageous behaviour...dilemma...

On a sidenote...I haven't seen Henrycat around today...I guess he is really clever and decided not to come here on the last day of May because he probybly knew they weren't going to make it and people would have swamped him with questiones he can't answer again...^^

oliverbogler · 05-31-2006, 11:02 AM

I share the disappointment many here feel on the delay in the release, and the possibility that we may have to wait until fall. However, I think one cannot ascribe it to lack of willingness to launch, or intentional misleading by the company. Sure they got it wrong a couple of times, but they are trying to balance the buzz with the reality.

As has been mentioned many times, we are not Irex's core business. That is the content providers (newspapers, magazines) who will probably pay for the hardware in some way - therefore their main attention has to be on the trials going on, which will be evaluated academically and success there is key. If that fails, the whole company's future may be in doubt.

We represent more of a risk at the moment, IMHO. If they release a device with issues (e.g. power management) to a crowd of vocal, and sometimes critical

folks like us, we may create more negative buzz, and customer service headaches than is offset by the income we are likely to provide. They clearly do not have much staff to handle this sort of thing yet, and so holding off is the safer strategy. I think the info coming from LA that there will be a developer prerelease soon sounds right.

I say: "Don't be angry at Irex". I am sure that if they could release, they would. They are not witholding a well functioing Iliad, but are getting it right as quickly as they can.

Sure, they didn't handle the communication with us very well. Companies should realize that raising expectations and then failing to deliver is worse than not raising them in the first place. Apple knows this, which is why they never talk about upcoming things. However, a startup like Irex probably has investor pressure to get to market, and so promised too soon. On the other hand, they cannot take us on every twist and turn in what must be a complex situation with different external vendors delivering/not delivering software etc.

Let us be patient, and give them a chance to wow us with a cool new device when it is ready. I'd rather wait a couple of months, than have something that I dislike because it underdelivers. The battery life is huge for me - I want something that I can treat like a book for a couple of weeks, then plug in. Not something that I need to recharge every 3 days.

Riocaz · 05-31-2006, 11:06 AM

Well said.

In fact I think that the urge not to 'dissappoint again' is one of the reasons that Irex is keeping quiet. However their earlier mistakes have pushed them to go too far IMO. They need to make some form of formal comment. Even if it's just a generic "Soon!".

Quote:

Originally Posted by CommanderROR

On a sidenote...I haven't seen Henrycat around today...I guess he is really clever and decided not to come here on the last day of May because he probybly knew they weren't going to make it and people would have swamped him with questiones he can't answer again...^^

Actually he was about earlier. But he's been almost silent since his 'hint' (1 post since then I think).

I do hope he hasn't been repremanded in anyway (e.g. told not to comment further) because of it.

CommanderROR · 05-31-2006, 11:12 AM

I'm with you on almost everything oliver...BUT:

Whatever the trouble is, the one thing they HAVE to do is tell people what's going on. i'm not talking about taking us every step of the way or something...just stating the correct reason for the delay and giving an approx. on how long it might take (make that conservative...)

It is absolutely unexcusable to wait till the alst day of April, telling people that the device is ready and will launch in April and then suddenly delaying, giving a very unconvincing reason, and not only for a couple of days (delays like that can happen easily) ub tby more than 4 weeks.

This is very unporfessional behaviour and not to be tolerated. I can live with delays (even though i don't like to) and am willing to let them finish their device, but they have to at least put up SOME info on their website. They even promised to do that (Angel Ancin actually said that they would start communicationg more with their prospective customers through the website around 10th of May) and still the website hasn't been updated fo ages, it even still contains mention of the April opening of the webshop in the FAQ!
Giving informtaion on the website would even have cut down on the number of mails and phone-calls they receive, so it would have made their work easier instead of harder..at least that's my estimation...

firekat · 05-31-2006, 11:13 AM

If the rumor is true that iLiad has been issuing and selling these devices to companies and businesses already and have locked the common people out then I am highly disappointed (I could use many other stronger adjectives here but will not denigrate this thread with profanity).

If the latter is the case then this is how I feel iLiad is treating us now:

"You little person, you don't matter. We will cater to the B2B clientele and will string you little people along till we get tired of it. Then we will dump you, and never let you touch our precious device! Well tell you to then go out and get some lesser commerically available reader (insert Sony Reader here) Hah, Hah, Hah! Your all fools!"

On a more serious note;

I am anxious to get one of these devices though at this point I am getting overwhelmingly frustrated with it. I was hoping to use this at work and sell the company on purchasing a number of them. This device - if it works correctly could have a large market in the industry that I am employed in. It was my intention to get one of these and "sell" the company on the idea. There are a lot of small companies that are not going to be willing to spend money on something until they can get an actual demonstration of it's capabilities. Employees that take the initiative may have more of a chance of marketing the company through the back door versus a salesman trying to knock down the front door.

The thing that iLiad does not understand is the myriad of uses that could be applied to with this device. They are limited by their own imagination as to what you can do with this thing. The truth of the matter is that the laity can find more applications then they could ever dream of. This fact has been proven more times than can be counted.

The preponderance of lies and innuendo forwarded by this company is disturbing. Just be truthful about this. If you don't know when it's going to be finally released say so, just don't pick arbitrary dates and then blow off your customer base when the date expires. The character of this company is strongly coming into question. I could take "We don't know exactly when we can sell this", than "It will be ready in two weeks".

The most important thing right now is not to obsess about this thing. Too often we take a want, and turn it into a need. Don't subside to this dilemma. We should turn our backs on it and get on with our lives. If they want to sell this thing to us they have our email addresses. They will contact us.

Good Luck To Us All!

05-31-2006, 10:12 AM	#32
Drops Connoisseur Posts: 65 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2006	Very disappointing Irex has a very bad business habit. I was looking at their device for our company since March. Today is indeed the last day of May and it looks like Irex has lied again. Looks like the "Delay due to webshop problems" reason was not true from the beginning. Since we don't want to do business with them anymore, I'll have to look elsewhere for a ebook device. Very sad, I really liked the technical specs of the Illiad but my boss will never allow us to buy there. Just imagine if there is a problem with the reader and you contact the company and get the same (non-) reactions like now...

05-31-2006, 11:02 AM	#42
oliverbogler Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 90 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Houston, TX Device: iLiad	I share the disappointment many here feel on the delay in the release, and the possibility that we may have to wait until fall. However, I think one cannot ascribe it to lack of willingness to launch, or intentional misleading by the company. Sure they got it wrong a couple of times, but they are trying to balance the buzz with the reality. As has been mentioned many times, we are not Irex's core business. That is the content providers (newspapers, magazines) who will probably pay for the hardware in some way - therefore their main attention has to be on the trials going on, which will be evaluated academically and success there is key. If that fails, the whole company's future may be in doubt. We represent more of a risk at the moment, IMHO. If they release a device with issues (e.g. power management) to a crowd of vocal, and sometimes critical folks like us, we may create more negative buzz, and customer service headaches than is offset by the income we are likely to provide. They clearly do not have much staff to handle this sort of thing yet, and so holding off is the safer strategy. I think the info coming from LA that there will be a developer prerelease soon sounds right. I say: "Don't be angry at Irex". I am sure that if they could release, they would. They are not witholding a well functioing Iliad, but are getting it right as quickly as they can. Sure, they didn't handle the communication with us very well. Companies should realize that raising expectations and then failing to deliver is worse than not raising them in the first place. Apple knows this, which is why they never talk about upcoming things. However, a startup like Irex probably has investor pressure to get to market, and so promised too soon. On the other hand, they cannot take us on every twist and turn in what must be a complex situation with different external vendors delivering/not delivering software etc. Let us be patient, and give them a chance to wow us with a cool new device when it is ready. I'd rather wait a couple of months, than have something that I dislike because it underdelivers. The battery life is huge for me - I want something that I can treat like a book for a couple of weeks, then plug in. Not something that I need to recharge every 3 days. Last edited by oliverbogler; 05-31-2006 at 11:11 AM.

05-31-2006, 11:13 AM	#45
firekat Groupie Posts: 157 Karma: 314 Join Date: May 2006	If the rumor is true that iLiad has been issuing and selling these devices to companies and businesses already and have locked the common people out then I am highly disappointed (I could use many other stronger adjectives here but will not denigrate this thread with profanity). If the latter is the case then this is how I feel iLiad is treating us now: "You little person, you don't matter. We will cater to the B2B clientele and will string you little people along till we get tired of it. Then we will dump you, and never let you touch our precious device! Well tell you to then go out and get some lesser commerically available reader (insert Sony Reader here) Hah, Hah, Hah! Your all fools!" On a more serious note; I am anxious to get one of these devices though at this point I am getting overwhelmingly frustrated with it. I was hoping to use this at work and sell the company on purchasing a number of them. This device - if it works correctly could have a large market in the industry that I am employed in. It was my intention to get one of these and "sell" the company on the idea. There are a lot of small companies that are not going to be willing to spend money on something until they can get an actual demonstration of it's capabilities. Employees that take the initiative may have more of a chance of marketing the company through the back door versus a salesman trying to knock down the front door. The thing that iLiad does not understand is the myriad of uses that could be applied to with this device. They are limited by their own imagination as to what you can do with this thing. The truth of the matter is that the laity can find more applications then they could ever dream of. This fact has been proven more times than can be counted. The preponderance of lies and innuendo forwarded by this company is disturbing. Just be truthful about this. If you don't know when it's going to be finally released say so, just don't pick arbitrary dates and then blow off your customer base when the date expires. The character of this company is strongly coming into question. I could take "We don't know exactly when we can sell this", than "It will be ready in two weeks". The most important thing right now is not to obsess about this thing. Too often we take a want, and turn it into a need. Don't subside to this dilemma. We should turn our backs on it and get on with our lives. If they want to sell this thing to us they have our email addresses. They will contact us. Good Luck To Us All! Last edited by firekat; 05-31-2006 at 11:27 AM.

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05-31-2006, 10:15 AM	#33
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	hmm...the lady at irex told me that the b2b part is already open...so you should have received positive feedback when asking them as representative of your company...very strange that. She really said that it has been released for business customers already...I always thought that it was only used in trial runs, but her words seemed to mean something else..but os course there is always room for (mis)interpretation.

05-31-2006, 10:17 AM	#35
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	You'd think a Company the size of Irex would do something to stem the bad press. For all we know one of the posters here may be a CEO or CTO, e.g. someone with some hefty purchasing power. - You'd be mad not to think twice about buying from them. - ok when I say bad press I mean word of mouth generated by forums likes this.

05-31-2006, 10:18 AM	#36
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	@High 5 would you mind calling irex and trying to get a statement from them (end of May and stuff...) as I said before, I think somebody who can talk to them in their native language could do the best job of dragging an answer out of them...possibly...

05-31-2006, 10:24 AM	#37
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	I called them about 20 minutes ago, it was actually Loeki who answered. Standard reply she didnt know when then webshop would be open only saying 'soon'. Oh an that I should leave my email address for a notification. :-/

05-31-2006, 10:25 AM	#38
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	great...any reaction on the "end of May" topic or did you forget to ask (like I did last time I phoned)?

05-31-2006, 10:33 AM	#39
Stuart Young MobileRead Editor Posts: 195 Karma: 75 Join Date: May 2006 Location: London Device: e61i / Eee PC / PRS-505	I didnt specifically mention end of May.

05-31-2006, 10:44 AM	#41
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	yes...this seems to be an increasing problem...companies not talking to their customers, not replying to service requests or technical questiones...service in general is going downhill. There are other examples however...like the big Graphics Cards manufactureres that have fianally learned that "paper-launches" can harm their image pretty badly. Both ATI and Nvidia habe managed to get rid of that bad habit for their latest line of Video Cards...so there is hope...at least for some issues and from some companies. The trouble is that although iRex has done a very bad job so far, the device itself is still interesting and I'd still like to buy it...and in doing so I will indirectly support their outrageous behaviour...dilemma... On a sidenote...I haven't seen Henrycat around today...I guess he is really clever and decided not to come here on the last day of May because he probybly knew they weren't going to make it and people would have swamped him with questiones he can't answer again...^^

05-31-2006, 11:12 AM	#44
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,022 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	I'm with you on almost everything oliver...BUT: Whatever the trouble is, the one thing they HAVE to do is tell people what's going on. i'm not talking about taking us every step of the way or something...just stating the correct reason for the delay and giving an approx. on how long it might take (make that conservative...) It is absolutely unexcusable to wait till the alst day of April, telling people that the device is ready and will launch in April and then suddenly delaying, giving a very unconvincing reason, and not only for a couple of days (delays like that can happen easily) ub tby more than 4 weeks. This is very unporfessional behaviour and not to be tolerated. I can live with delays (even though i don't like to) and am willing to let them finish their device, but they have to at least put up SOME info on their website. They even promised to do that (Angel Ancin actually said that they would start communicationg more with their prospective customers through the website around 10th of May) and still the website hasn't been updated fo ages, it even still contains mention of the April opening of the webshop in the FAQ! Giving informtaion on the website would even have cut down on the number of mails and phone-calls they receive, so it would have made their work easier instead of harder..at least that's my estimation...

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