Gen3 When will Bookeen post a new firmware update?

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by ErwinOtten

It doesn't matter to me. I'm a happy reader with 33 mobi-pocket-books on his CyBook who isn't in need of folder-support or a system-upgrade. My Cybook seldom hangs and I can read anything I want.

I just wanted to show that Bookeen did promise an update in the first quarter of 2009. All I want from bookeen is that they are a little more open to us, the customers. Tell what you're doing and people are happy. Don't tell a thing and they start to complain.....

At this very second I have 286 ebooks on my Cybook. It takes for gosh darn EVER to find an ebook. I've taken to editing the titles to an "Author's Last Name_Series Position(if any)_Title" title format so that I at least don't have to chase from page 5 of the Library to page 42 in order to switch between Schulman's "Alongside Night" and "Rainbow Cadenza". Yes, Bookeen NEEDS to 'fix' the folders issue! (It should be intuitively obvious why this is important. Each frigging page switch costs battery life!)

As for ePub support, I'd rather they fixed the various HTML issues and add in decent multiple-fonts-per-ebook support first and make ePub support a second development project.

And there's absolutel NO reason why they can't add RTF support for a bare-bones RTF ebook. (Of course, given that both my Cybooks have the minimal memory for RAM that may well mean I'll have to shell out MORE money for a more capable device. Sigh.)

Derek

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by HarryT

With all due respect, that is merely an estimate, not a "promise" .

Correct. And while it is too bad that they were a bit over-optimistic, I prefer to wait until a stable and reasonably bug-free update can be released, rather than having a buggy update made public just to meet a deadline.

(Best of both worlds might be for Bookeen to recruit some of the folks here to participate in a beta program.)

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

At this very second I have 286 ebooks on my Cybook. It takes for gosh darn EVER to find an ebook.

Indeed. Until we get some form of folder or tag support, I just keep a more limited selection of books on my Cybook. Library navigation with a large number of books is just too slow at present.

[Justy]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

At this very second I have 286 ebooks on my Cybook. It takes for gosh darn EVER to find an ebook.

Amateur! (Never thought I could say that to you!) I have 435 eBooks, 22 pages, on my Cybook! You are correct it takes a lot of clicking to go from one end of the list to the other!

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I've taken to editing the titles to an "Author's Last Name_Series Position(if any)_Title" title format so that I at least don't have to chase from page 5 of the Library to page 42 in order to switch between Schulman's "Alongside Night" and "Rainbow Cadenza".

I've gone one better, all my eBooks titles are set up "Genre_Author_SeriesPosition_Title" which makes perfect sense unless I'm reading something in the "SciFi" group and my son wants me to read him a story from the "Child" section. At least with the soft touch nav button I don't have to hear it 'click-click-click' all the way there.

[Ortep]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

I've taken to editing the titles to an "Author's Last Name_Series Position(if any)_Title" title format so that I at least don't have to chase from page 5 of the Library to page 42 in order to switch between Schulman's "Alongside Night" and "Rainbow Cadenza".

Ther is a much simpler solution for this problem. Simply create a folder for every author on your Cybook. Place all your books in the corresponding folder and sort your library on filename. You will see that all your books are grouped by Author and sorted on Title.

I even keep them on my computer that way.

[pdurrant]

2135/107 pages. But I do have duplicates - I keep my unread ebooks all together in an "a a new ebooks" folder as well as in their proper author folder.

It's not really practical, but I've been hanging on for the new firmware with proper library navigation....

Originally Posted by Justy

Amateur! (Never thought I could say that to you!) I have 435 eBooks, 22 pages, on my Cybook! You are correct it takes a lot of clicking to go from one end of the list to the other!

[Snuffi]

Originally Posted by HarryT

With all due respect, that is merely an estimate, not a "promise" .

I am the last person who would be angry over a delay of a few weeks. Folder support was promised (or "announced" or whatever word they actually used back then) in December 2007 and "estimated" to arrive early 2008. So we are talking over a year here and that's a lot, even for an estimate.

As to the "estimate" vs. "promise": Bookeen is not new to the business (Cybook is their third generation reader) and I think they know that their customers don't care about some mumbojumbo like "but I used the words 'should', 'maybe', 'not entirely impossible that'", if they give out a date the customers will pick that up.

But as I already said in a previous post, they should have just kept silent about what they are working on and when it was due and everyone would be happy...

P.S.: If the delay is really due to the implementation of epub support I am not really happy with the decision.
1) I wonder how they should be able to implement something as big as epub in just 2 months when they cannot implement something as small (just comparing the two, no absolute figures) as folder support in over a year.

2) Epub support is pretty certain to mess a few things up. I am not negative here but every software company introducing a big new features has some nasty bugs in the first release. If I think back to the first firmware release which fixed some minor things, halved battery life and took two more releases to get battery life back to original level, I am not really looking forward to the first release containing epub. I had rather had folder support now and waited for epub a little longer.

3) There will always be one more feature. If you delay a release to include that one feature, too, you will never release. Why not take things slow, release what you have and work on the new stuff afterwards. If you delay a release to include that one more feature you will necessarily have to rush it because that feature will never fit into the original timeline. You have pressure from the people waiting for the "old" features and are therefore likely to not work as thoroughly on the "new" ones. I think nobody would have complained if Bookeen had released folder support and planned epub for late 2009 (I definitely wouldn't, not that I don't like the format - got some books already - but I wasn't expecting it anytime soon, anyway).

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Ortep

Ther is a much simpler solution for this problem. Simply create a folder for every author on your Cybook. Place all your books in the corresponding folder and sort your library on filename. You will see that all your books are grouped by Author and sorted on Title.

I even keep them on my computer that way.

I do that in the filename of the book itself: 'Lastname, Firstname - Series nr. - Title' (Series only where applicable). Works out the same when you sort by filename.

[Over]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'd guess that it's because the changes from 796 are not (in their view) sufficient to warrant the effort required in producing an installation package for it. The only "functional" change that I'm aware of in the 8xx firmware is that one can now supply "missing" fonts for a PDF file.

Come on! How professional is that? Is it too much work to make an installation package? Even if it's work... Well, shouldn't Bookeen work? Or they can't spare a few minutes preparing an installation package?

It would be great if Microsoft waited until a new Service Pack was ready to release any updates.

They should release what they have. Hay, at least they could say they released a new firmware less time ago...

[EowynCarter]

As far as can tel, the reason 820 isn't on the website, is because bookeen though to realese the new one soon after, and that it just wasn't worth the mess. Then, someting unexpected happens, release is delayed...
And i'll see the fact that 820 isn't on the website now as a sign they still hopes to release the next one sometimes soon.

Life would be easier if things always go the way we want them to go hey ?

[Idoine]

I'm using Genre folders, then Author folders, with Sorted by Path...
And made a ZZ folder for the stuff I'm not likely to read on a daily basis, as French classical litterature gifted with my Cybook ! (Zola in the Metro/tub... Brrr !)

By the way, a better way with folders would be great !

[Snuffi]

Originally Posted by EowynCarter

As far as can tel, the reason 820 isn't on the website, is because bookeen though to realese the new one soon after, and that it just wasn't worth the mess. Then, someting unexpected happens, release is delayed...
And i'll see the fact that 820 isn't on the website now as a sign they still hopes to release the next one sometimes soon.

Life would be easier if things always go the way we want them to go hey ?

They are a company, not a bunch of amateurs hacking a modded firmware in their garage, though. I have had the responsibility for several (small, compared to that, of course) IT projects and it's not like we never missed the deadline. But *if* we missed the deadline there had to be consequences to make sure we wouldn't miss another one.

Apart from that: What do you think would happen if I promised to pay them for the device and - you know how things go - I would have problem after problem and when I finally had all the money set aside ready to send it would turn out I would like to buy another device really soon now. So it wouldn't really make sense paying twice so I rather wait until that second purchase and pay all together then. Unless something goes wrong until then... :-)
(just kiding here, of course, just wanted to point out that there are two different sets of rules for companies and customers)

[Godzil]

Bookeen didn't give us a strict deadline, but just an approximation for when they will release a new firmware. They didn't say "On the 30 of february 2009 we will give you the new firmware for the Cybook gen 42.δ"

(I celebrate my 42nd post!)

[EowynCarter]

A little post today on bookeen french blog.
Still not there yet.

Nous n'avons toujours pas de date précise pour la sortie de la mise à jour. Cependant nous prenons en compte vos demandes et suggestions pour l'amélioration de notre logiciel.
Pour touts problèmes liés à l'utilisation du Cybook vous êtes priés de contacter notre équipe support à support'at'bookeen.com

Roughly translated :

We still don't have a presice date for the upddate.
However, we're taking into account your demands and sugetions to improve our software.
For trouble related to the use of the Cybook, please contact our support team at support'at'bookeen.com

[nelsonescorcio]

... And from the English blog, after some complainings about the delay and, foremost, Bookeen's silence: "Dear Customer, We are close to release the next firmware upgrade. Please be sure that your suggestions are important to us and that we are preparing the upgrade taking your remarks in account.
Best regards,
Bookeen team"

"Close", "soon"... Nothing new. Again. It could be tomorrow (unprobable), next week (more probable), next month (most probable)...

Getting tired of this.
Can't understand the economy of words of this guys... Nor the permanent use of corporate "clichés" when dealing with their costumers, without real dialogue ou substantial information about anything!