A long overdue update

Originally Posted by sarah11918

...... Really, I believe they've more than lived up to their contractual obligation. ...... But, I just don't get all this major negative energy around the device not being updated, or about a company not disclosing private company business.....

I agree that they've lived up to their obligation. But if I were running a company, I'd want to keep my existing customer base relatively satisfied, which they have done partly through excellent tech support and service support. However, I am extremely disappointed that Entourage's only activity related to these forums is that of censorship. I am not expecting disclosure of "private company business". But an occasional post with real information would go a long way to making customers feel like they matter. Happy customers could go a long way to advertising the device and increasing sales.

The Froyo update will enable me to use several apps I am looking forward to (such as the Sony eReader - so I can share the account with my kids.) The thing is, to many people the update is highly anticipated. If there are those who are happy with 1.6, then that is fine, but there are many who disagree and are hopeful for the new udpate.

This will update also help Entourage sell more EE and PE's to new customers. The Android 1.6 version is a stigma when compared to newer tablets. The fact is, a company cannot always release new models every year since they really need to recoup R&D and initial production costs. Updating the OS is the cheapest and easiest way for them to become more competitive in the market.

Originally Posted by StevenP

The thing is, to many people the update is highly anticipated. If there are those who are happy with 1.6, then that is fine, but there are many who disagree and are hopeful for the new udpate.

Very true, Steven. However, I just wish that the forward movement on the Android OS did not come at the expense of the (relatively) neglected eInk side.

Originally Posted by Dr. T

Very true, Steven. However, I just wish that the forward movement on the Android OS did not come at the expense of the (relatively) neglected eInk side.

I think it's safe to say we'd all like to see a froyo update, but why must it be either/or? If Boris is right, resources are scare, in terms of bodies to tinker/program. But sadly, not only has the froyo update come at the expense of eink work, but the eink seems to have gone backward a bit with dingo. We now having ghosting issues, we lost the ability to return library books from the eDGe library, and there's been little or no work on the landscape wish.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

the eink seems to have gone backward a bit with dingo

Well, at least it's proof that work is going on, right?

Originally Posted by sarah11918

Well, at least it's proof that work is going on, right?

That's one way of looking at it! Sort of like the contractor who built me gorgeous, new windowsills but cut up my cable wires in the process, leaving me without cable in my bedroom for a whole month!

Originally Posted by sarah11918

I agree. I honestly can't wrap my head around the some of the frustrations here. We all have working products. If our products don't work, the company takes care of us with near lightening speed and efficiency. Really, I believe they've more than lived up to their contractual obligation. I can understand people being disappointed over the difficulty with which new apps can be created because the SDK hasn't been released, or the couple of features that it sounded like we were going to have a pre-order time that we don't have. But, I just don't get all this major negative energy around the device not being updated, or about a company not disclosing private company business. If they choose to update, you get a better product than you bought. That's cool. If they choose to share what they're working on, then you have more insight into where the company is going. You didn't pay for either of those (even if you think you did) when you bought your edge. You paid for a machine that did x, y and z. If you weren't happy with those functions, Entourage gladly refunded your purchase. If it didn't do x, y, and z because your machine had an issue, they fixed it. If you really wanted a machine that did q, r and s, then maybe you have to take some responsibility for your gamble on the edge.

I can understand disappointment, but some of the huffiness around here is just way past my ability to comprehend and empathize with.

A few months before retirement I was desperate to find something that could do x, y, z. (Load/annotate pdf tech manuals/operation instructions, Handwritten note/drawing pad, Email, Internet connectability to my desktop (Logmein)… + (take pictures, record on-site videos etc>).
When Microsoft withdrew its (???) tablet a review of the Edge came up. I purchased the Edge in May '10 only after reading the Forum from beginning to end. For month's it was my constant companion. I no longer needed to carry a trunkfull of paper, etc, etc. The money was well spent.
Should I ever need to do x, y, z again, ...the Edge is sitting on the computer table, always charging and ready to go.
When (If) it is upgraded… so much the better.

Now the T-mobile My Touch 3g slide is the main mobile device. I purchased it a week after it hit the stores. We all know that a company the size of T-Mobile would never renege on a promise to upgrade to Froyo. ...Still waiting.

Entourage as a company has my best wishes. From the receptionist, designer, lab tech, to shipping/receiving… who's job/income is on the line, and who know it… Good Luck.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

Well said. We bought a device from a private company; we didn't buy a majority stake in an IPO. Yes, I'm disappointed that we haven't already gotten froyo, but what important function will froyo give us that we don't already have? Seriously. Maybe I'm missing something. As others have said on another thread, I'd rather have an eink upgrade than froyo--which I think would bring major functional upgrades (more shades of gray and landscape viewing)--but that's just me.

One major "important function" (my opinion) that froyo provides is the ability to install apps on SD cards instead of on the internal storage. This can be critical when you are running short on storage.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

... although, frankly, I didn't buy my eDGe for the apps. I bought it for reading and annotating ebooks (landscape, please), surfing the web, checking email and watching the occassional video. I may be an outlier user in this respect.

Just to add my 2p in case someone from Entourage is keeping count. Ditto to the above (I'm another outlier) and I'd rather have improved eink functionality ahead of update to froyo.

Originally Posted by Eddy R

When Microsoft withdrew its (???) tablet a review of the Edge came up.

I, too, found out about the edge through the mythical Microsoft Courier. Someone had posted the link to the edge in the comments of an Engadget article about the Courier. It just goes to show you that if you're ever in a related online discussion somewhere, it never hurts to bring up the edge (if you recommend it) because it just might be the device that someone is looking for.

Originally Posted by Eddy R

I purchased the Edge in May '09

Wow, you're a really early adopter.

Originally Posted by NiaTrue

If Boris is right, resources are scare, in terms of bodies to tinker/program.

Which is one of the nice things about open source, and why it's generally a good idea for manufacturers to do everything possible to attract independent developers to their device. The main point of open source is not just to save on licensing fees, which is how all too many manufacturers seem to see it.

I will start a little offtopic, but...
2 month ago I got another android based device from an chinese company. There's absolutly no tech support. Their software (android 2.1) -- is buggy like a ****. The battery consumption is an nightmire. BUT... The assemble quallity is really good and they're very cheap. 100$ for the hardware wich on average cost about 300-500USD. So they're very popular. And number of customers are grown very fast... But what is more important. One month ago we (by oweself) made android 2.2. One week ago we made custom 2.3 based on Cyanogen. Now we work on 3.0. Everything was done only by 4 core programmers. Think about it again. Four people just using their spare time, were able to port android in about one month. How is it possible?
1. We got source code from manufactor.
2. Device were cheap enough, so no one care if it'll become an 'brik'. And usually people by several devices at ones (for myself and as an gift to a friend).
3. There's were a HUGE community, which donate enough to support developers interest to work.

So what I mean? I allready tald one year ago, that EE marketing strategy is sucks.
1. Devices is overpriced. Company can't make money if device is overpriced (unless it's luxurity or overpriced in 10 times).
2. Low number of sales. Company can't earn money from another revenue source if cusomer's base is small.
3. No market support. Unless others, EE can't earn money by allowing third parties to sell apps or other media (at reasonable price).
4. Allways outdated. Unless others which announce (and produce) support of new technologies (including software or firmware) as soon as possible. EE is outdated from the start.
5. No real marketing at all.

So you can look at Amazon's kindle which sell devices for the price which is LESS than the real price of the devices (and give you free 3G internet rouming), but still make a lot of money by selling media to device owners. Or you can look at Ipad which is a little overpriced but make most of the money from apps. Or you can look at Sony which really puched their device paying big money for advertising. Or you can look at some russian or chinese devices made by small companies (usually about ten people) which made firmware with new features awailable every few weeks.

I don't know how EE is making money (probably they just waiting for some big company who buy it, and didn't have real interest in developing). But I know that if they wanted to made good software, they allready done it. Think about it.

Originally Posted by sarah11918

I agree. I honestly can't wrap my head around the some of the frustrations here. We all have working products. . . .

Most regular users of the edge are pretty happy with the device. I'm happy with the EE I have, more so than with the Iliad, or would have been with some other tablet/reader thing. The forums tend to attract people who are more technically inclined, power users, developers, and the like. So, there is a disproportionately greater sense of grumpiness expressed in the forums (over SDK and OS versions) than the average feeling/experience for most regular users.

Robot, where I find what your friends are doing very interesting I am afraid you cannot compare a cheap $100 dollar device to the EE and Kindle is most definately not cheap. The current price on the Amazon website is $379.00 for the DX which is the only device with a 10" screen but unlike the Edge there is no touch capabilty, no markup facility with a stylus, the battery is embedded in the device so your DX dies with it, there is no memory expandability, no ports for devices like flash drives or keyboards, its PDF handling sucks. And oh yes! did I mention there is no tablet attached which can interact with the reader? I can not get over the web page to reader conversion, who else offers that?? Incredible stuff!!! All the other devices including the iPad (very expensive) are tablets and who wants to read on an LCD screen for any length of time? I personally find the tablet side has more than enough features as it stands and would not be too phased if there were never another release of the OS. There are a few things that could be ironed our here and there and sorted out on the reader side but overall the device does what it is supposed to do and is really fantastic at it. If you want more , use something that is meant to do more like I do, use a workstation PC!!! More strength to their arm at Entourage!

Originally Posted by kenjennings

So, there is a disproportionately greater sense of grumpiness expressed in the forums (over SDK and OS versions) than the average feeling/experience for most regular users.

I do think it's important that this view is expressed, so that newcomers to the forum aren't disproportionately swayed by grumblings that might not even affect their experience with the device. (They should be swayed just the right amount, which will be different for each user.) So forgive me if every now and then I have a little outburst like that, just to level the playing field.