Newspapers

vxf · 12-28-2011, 04:50 PM

I posted the following on SONY's forums, regarding newspaper subscriptions.
I know some people here are partial to SONY - and I am truly sorry if my feedback somehow offends them. But I don't see anyone ever talking about subscriptions, auto-delivery and periodicals, so here it is:

I have multiple problems with newspaper subscriptions. Some of those problems are old, some new.

I have been a subscriber of both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times through SONY's store for about two years (since the PRS900 was released... I don't recall the exact date).

Here are the problems.

1) Since the beginning, SONY's store has missed issues. On some days, the newspapers are just not made available. Some of those issues will be posted over the following days, which is of dubious utility. Other issues are completely missed and never made available. One example: the Financial Times on 12/5 was never made available. Today's Financial Times (12/27) is also unavailable. Calls to SONY's customer service have had no results - SONY blames the newspaper editors. But, for some reason, those same editors are capable of delivering content on time on competing devices (for example, iPad).

2) Auto-delivery is hit-or-miss. Even if the issue is available, on any given day it may or may not be automatically delivered on either devices or PCs, even if the devices and PCs are online.

3) Auto-delivery just doesn't work with the PRS-T1.

4) The old SONY Reader Library adds newspapers correctly to the list of periodicals. The new Reader for PC is hit-or-miss. Some issues are added to the list of periodicals, some are added to the list of books, while some, even if they are auto-delivered (and saved in the correct folder), cannot in any way be imported into the actual software.

5) The WSJ SONY edition is full of typos and formatting errors. Spelling errors, page numbers in text, missing headings, wrong pictures associated with articles, I have seen it all. I suppose this is not SONY's fault, but I would expect some sort of quality control, given that the subscription is sold through SONY's store.

I truly enjoy reading my newspaper on e-ink in the morning, so I have patiently waited for over two years, conscious of the fact that this is a new market and a new product, expecting some sort of improvement. But, as time goes by, the number of missed issues is increasing, the new software has more problems handling periodicals than the old one and the new device does not support auto-delivery (apparently that is a bug, but recent updates have not addressed it). SONY is apparently oblivious to the problem - and, recently, the price of a WSJ subscription has actually increased, despite the problems.

The lack of co-operation and the clear lack of interest have led me to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and to cancel my subscription to the WSJ. I am, for the moment, keeping my subscription to the FT, as, at least, that does not suffer from the same formatting and spelling problems.

I am offering feedback, because I believe customers should be informed. But the complete lack of any response from customer service after multiple phone calls leads me to not expect any action on SONY's part on the issue.

VicLavigne · 12-28-2011, 04:54 PM

That is poor service at the least. I am partial to Sony readers myself, and no offense taken on this.

Vic

richyhu · 12-29-2011, 03:26 PM

I sympathize as I have also had mixed results with the newspapers. I am currently subscribed to The Guardian but have also had subs to the NY Times and the FT. With regards to formatting the NYT, FT and the Guardian are generally very good with no issues. I have had the missing issue once with the Guardian and the issue in question was never re-posted.

The WSJ and The Washington Post on the other hand are full of typos and fomatting issues.

I also have issues with the new Reader software not timestamping the auto-delivered issues correctly - quite often they are stamped with the date of the previous day. This does appear to have improved somewhat with recent software updates to the desktop software but is still a bit hit and miss and the original poster pointed out.

Overall I am very happy with The Guardian as a monthly subscription for 7 issues a week for $9.95 is great value when the price of the print copies here in the UK is around £1.20 GBP a day and £2.00 or more on the weekend.

I also really enjoy the NY Times, but some of the other publications have had issues from the outset that have never been fixed and I agree that the auto-delivery for the T-1 needs to be sorted out. But at least I can download the issues direct to the device and not have to go through the awful desktop software.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-30-2011, 01:29 PM

I have subscribed to the WSJ through Sony for over 2 years. I seem to recall missing editions on my 900 but not on my 950. Auto-delivery has been working smooth for me on the 950. I don't bother with downloading through the Sony software. I do think it's sad that the T1 does not have auto-delivery enabled yet. It should have had that out of the box when initially released.

With the price increase coming, I am thinking of switching my WSJ subscription to my Kindle e-ink. I know auto-delivery will work consistently with that device. I purchased a single copy of the WSJ on the Kindle to do a side-by-side comparison with the Sony version. The first thing I noticed is that the Kindle version has more photos in each article. The article content is similar, but they are organized in a different order. However, the Sony formatting is much cleaner and prettier. I prefer it to the Kindle edition.

On the other hand, with the Kindle edition I can get all of the following items for $18.29:

Quote:

The Wall Street Journal for Kindle and Digital Plus access for Kindle subscribers
With a subscription to The Wall Street Journal Kindle and Digital Plus you will receive unlimited access to WSJ.com website. Additionally, your subscription includes access to The Wall Street Journal on other mobile platforms including Kindle Fire, iPad, and select smartphones for as long as your Kindle subscription remains active.

The Wall Street Journal Kindle and Digital Plus access includes on:

All WSJ Kindle Editions for e-ink devices
The Wall Street Journal App for Kindle Fire
WSJ Kindle Editions for Kindle for iPad, Kindle for iPhone, and Kindle for Android reading apps
WSJ.com
The Wall Street Journal App for iPad & Android tablets
WSJ Mobile Reader for Blackberry, iPhone and Android smartphones

That's sweet! Access on multiple devices (like my new Kindle Fire and iPhone) and to WSJ.com. I assume that the price is also probably going to increase for the Kindle version in the new year. So right now I am in a holding pattern.

vxf · 12-30-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I have subscribed to the WSJ through Sony for over 2 years. I seem to recall missing editions on my 900 but not on my 950. Auto-delivery has been working smooth for me on the 950. I don't bother with downloading through the Sony software. I do think it's sad that the T1 does not have auto-delivery enabled yet. It should have had that out of the box when initially released.

With the price increase coming, I am thinking of switching my WSJ subscription to my Kindle e-ink. I know auto-delivery will work consistently with that device. I purchased a single copy of the WSJ on the Kindle to do a side-by-side comparison with the Sony version. The first thing I noticed is that the Kindle version has more photos in each article. The article content is similar, but they are organized in a different order. However, the Sony formatting is much cleaner and prettier. I prefer it to the Kindle edition.

On the other hand, with the Kindle edition I can get all of the following items for $18.29:

That's sweet! Access on multiple devices (like my new Kindle Fire and iPhone) and to WSJ.com. I assume that the price is also probably going to increase for the Kindle version in the new year. So right now I am in a holding pattern.

Regarding the WSJ, I have decided to get a print subscription - it's only $120 a year (well, that's the "80% discount", but it's easy to find that offer, see: http://wallstreetsubscriptionz.com/w...scription.html). That allows access to the iPad version, which is delivered on time, updated during the day and has some extra features, such as articles from the European and Asian editions, video, etc.). I don't really mind reading it on the iPad, and I will keep the FT on SONY.

Regarding missed issues, I am puzzled by the fact you don't seem to have problems recently. There have been multiple instances in which I was not able to find the issue even on SONY's store - wonder if I am doing something wrong. I am not at work now, but I'll try to dig some specific examples. It's more common with the FT, but it happens with WSJ as well.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-30-2011, 07:43 PM

I don't read the WSJ everyday. Mostly on weekends and then hit-or-miss throughout the week. I've been reading mostly on my T1 recently and so my 950 has been powered off. I probably wouldn't notice here or there if it is only a recent thing. I have a subscription to the Daily Mail as well, but it's the Sunday edition only and therefore not a daily. But, I have never not been able to download an issue from my Sony account on my T1.

Are you sure they aren't holidays that you are missing? For example, this week I did not receive an issue on Monday the 26th, but I'm sure that's because Christmas was on Sunday and so Monday became the holiday. Just like there may not be an issue published this Monday for New Year's.

Could you be having any issues with your wireless connectivity overnight? For example, I had a few issues that I missed when I was having internet problems.

vxf · 12-30-2011, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I don't read the WSJ everyday. Mostly on weekends and then hit-or-miss throughout the week. I've been reading mostly on my T1 recently and so my 950 has been powered off. I probably wouldn't notice here or there if it is only a recent thing. I have a subscription to the Daily Mail as well, but it's the Sunday edition only and therefore not a daily. But, I have never not been able to download an issue from my Sony account on my T1.

Are you sure they aren't holidays that you are missing? For example, this week I did not receive an issue on Monday the 26th, but I'm sure that's because Christmas was on Sunday and so Monday became the holiday. Just like there may not be an issue published this Monday for New Year's.

Could you be having any issues with your wireless connectivity overnight? For example, I had a few issues that I missed when I was having internet problems.

Thanks a lot for your feedback. No, it's not post-holidays - I am not counting those. And I don't think it's the connection, because I keep it connected via 3G and because I check the store - so when I say it's not available, I mean it's not posted on the store and not available via 'download past issues'.

I am still not at work so I don't have my archive, but I remember distinctly missing it on a Monday a couple of weeks ago - and some more mid-week problems recently. I'll try to dig out the exact dates later on.

Bookworm_Girl · 12-31-2011, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vxf

Thanks a lot for your feedback. No, it's not post-holidays - I am not counting those. And I don't think it's the connection, because I keep it connected via 3G and because I check the store - so when I say it's not available, I mean it's not posted on the store and not available via 'download past issues'.

I am still not at work so I don't have my archive, but I remember distinctly missing it on a Monday a couple of weeks ago - and some more mid-week problems recently. I'll try to dig out the exact dates later on.

I've got editions for Mondays the 12th and 19th. There wasn't one on the 26th. I don't save back-issues so most everything is deleted. The only editions I have at the moment for comparison are Dec 10, 12, 15, 19, 20 and 27-31. Right now 27 - 31 are available for download in the store purchases.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-07-2012, 01:57 PM

vxf, I just turned on auto-delivery to Reader for Mac. I am curious to see how consistent the deliveries are.

This week I got issues from Jan 3rd through today. No issue on Monday the 2nd because of the New Year's holiday.

vxf · 01-23-2012, 02:20 PM

Sorry, it's been hectic at work and I did not follow up.

But today I noticed that the WSJ is missing (January 23rd). As of 1:30pm, it's not available... let's see if they post it later on.

Edit: I am actually not sure... I cancelled my subscription a while ago, but I thought it was supposed to run until the end of the month... need to double-check when i get back to the office later on.

Edit 2: Never mind, it's not the subscription. It says it's active... but I have not received the issue and it is not available when I try to download past issues.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-23-2012, 03:35 PM

I had breakfast on the go today and didn't follow my usual habit to check email & news this morning. I will check later and see if today's WSJ was autodelivered to Reader for Mac. So far I haven't missed any deliveries this month except Jan 2nd and 16th as expected because they were holidays.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-23-2012, 08:33 PM

Today's WSJ was successfully auto-delivered for me to Reader for Mac. Did it ever show up for you?

vxf · 01-24-2012, 04:32 PM

Still no - and not Tuesday either. The really weird thing is that, even if I go to 'downloading past issues' - it's still not there. Neither on my device or on the PC.

I am travelling, but will give them a call Thursday when i get home.

Thanks for your feedback.

Bookworm_Girl · 01-24-2012, 05:15 PM

I received Tuesday's edition this morning. I put my Mac in sleep mode at night (i.e. not fully powered off). I wake it up in the morning. It connects to the internet, does its sync thing and a notification message pops up telling me to click it to download the news. So I click the message and then check Reader to see if it appears in the Periodicals section. I'm impressed with how smoothly it has worked for me.

It is odd though that you also cannot see it on your Account page. Therefore it doesn't seem isolated to the notification and download process on your computer. Weird.

12-28-2011, 04:50 PM	#1
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Newspapers I posted the following on SONY's forums, regarding newspaper subscriptions. I know some people here are partial to SONY - and I am truly sorry if my feedback somehow offends them. But I don't see anyone ever talking about subscriptions, auto-delivery and periodicals, so here it is: I have multiple problems with newspaper subscriptions. Some of those problems are old, some new. I have been a subscriber of both The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times through SONY's store for about two years (since the PRS900 was released... I don't recall the exact date). Here are the problems. 1) Since the beginning, SONY's store has missed issues. On some days, the newspapers are just not made available. Some of those issues will be posted over the following days, which is of dubious utility. Other issues are completely missed and never made available. One example: the Financial Times on 12/5 was never made available. Today's Financial Times (12/27) is also unavailable. Calls to SONY's customer service have had no results - SONY blames the newspaper editors. But, for some reason, those same editors are capable of delivering content on time on competing devices (for example, iPad). 2) Auto-delivery is hit-or-miss. Even if the issue is available, on any given day it may or may not be automatically delivered on either devices or PCs, even if the devices and PCs are online. 3) Auto-delivery just doesn't work with the PRS-T1. 4) The old SONY Reader Library adds newspapers correctly to the list of periodicals. The new Reader for PC is hit-or-miss. Some issues are added to the list of periodicals, some are added to the list of books, while some, even if they are auto-delivered (and saved in the correct folder), cannot in any way be imported into the actual software. 5) The WSJ SONY edition is full of typos and formatting errors. Spelling errors, page numbers in text, missing headings, wrong pictures associated with articles, I have seen it all. I suppose this is not SONY's fault, but I would expect some sort of quality control, given that the subscription is sold through SONY's store. I truly enjoy reading my newspaper on e-ink in the morning, so I have patiently waited for over two years, conscious of the fact that this is a new market and a new product, expecting some sort of improvement. But, as time goes by, the number of missed issues is increasing, the new software has more problems handling periodicals than the old one and the new device does not support auto-delivery (apparently that is a bug, but recent updates have not addressed it). SONY is apparently oblivious to the problem - and, recently, the price of a WSJ subscription has actually increased, despite the problems. The lack of co-operation and the clear lack of interest have led me to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and to cancel my subscription to the WSJ. I am, for the moment, keeping my subscription to the FT, as, at least, that does not suffer from the same formatting and spelling problems. I am offering feedback, because I believe customers should be informed. But the complete lack of any response from customer service after multiple phone calls leads me to not expect any action on SONY's part on the issue.

01-23-2012, 02:20 PM	#10
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Sorry, it's been hectic at work and I did not follow up. But today I noticed that the WSJ is missing (January 23rd). As of 1:30pm, it's not available... let's see if they post it later on. Edit: I am actually not sure... I cancelled my subscription a while ago, but I thought it was supposed to run until the end of the month... need to double-check when i get back to the office later on. Edit 2: Never mind, it's not the subscription. It says it's active... but I have not received the issue and it is not available when I try to download past issues. Last edited by vxf; 01-23-2012 at 02:23 PM.

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12-28-2011, 04:54 PM	#2
VicLavigne e-reading since 2008 Posts: 197 Karma: 112730 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Hinesville Georgia Device: Nook STR, Sony PRS-T1	That is poor service at the least. I am partial to Sony readers myself, and no offense taken on this. Vic

12-29-2011, 03:26 PM	#3
richyhu Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 62 Join Date: May 2008 Location: London, UK Device: Sony PRS-505 (Blue), PRS-700, PRS-T1 (Black)	I sympathize as I have also had mixed results with the newspapers. I am currently subscribed to The Guardian but have also had subs to the NY Times and the FT. With regards to formatting the NYT, FT and the Guardian are generally very good with no issues. I have had the missing issue once with the Guardian and the issue in question was never re-posted. The WSJ and The Washington Post on the other hand are full of typos and fomatting issues. I also have issues with the new Reader software not timestamping the auto-delivered issues correctly - quite often they are stamped with the date of the previous day. This does appear to have improved somewhat with recent software updates to the desktop software but is still a bit hit and miss and the original poster pointed out. Overall I am very happy with The Guardian as a monthly subscription for 7 issues a week for $9.95 is great value when the price of the print copies here in the UK is around £1.20 GBP a day and £2.00 or more on the weekend. I also really enjoy the NY Times, but some of the other publications have had issues from the outset that have never been fixed and I agree that the auto-delivery for the T-1 needs to be sorted out. But at least I can download the issues direct to the device and not have to go through the awful desktop software.

12-30-2011, 07:43 PM	#6
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	I don't read the WSJ everyday. Mostly on weekends and then hit-or-miss throughout the week. I've been reading mostly on my T1 recently and so my 950 has been powered off. I probably wouldn't notice here or there if it is only a recent thing. I have a subscription to the Daily Mail as well, but it's the Sunday edition only and therefore not a daily. But, I have never not been able to download an issue from my Sony account on my T1. Are you sure they aren't holidays that you are missing? For example, this week I did not receive an issue on Monday the 26th, but I'm sure that's because Christmas was on Sunday and so Monday became the holiday. Just like there may not be an issue published this Monday for New Year's. Could you be having any issues with your wireless connectivity overnight? For example, I had a few issues that I missed when I was having internet problems.

01-07-2012, 01:57 PM	#9
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	vxf, I just turned on auto-delivery to Reader for Mac. I am curious to see how consistent the deliveries are. This week I got issues from Jan 3rd through today. No issue on Monday the 2nd because of the New Year's holiday.

01-23-2012, 03:35 PM	#11
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	I had breakfast on the go today and didn't follow my usual habit to check email & news this morning. I will check later and see if today's WSJ was autodelivered to Reader for Mac. So far I haven't missed any deliveries this month except Jan 2nd and 16th as expected because they were holidays.

01-23-2012, 08:33 PM	#12
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	Today's WSJ was successfully auto-delivered for me to Reader for Mac. Did it ever show up for you?

01-24-2012, 04:32 PM	#13
vxf Guru Posts: 944 Karma: 1490348 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Norman, OK Device: Sony PRS 350, 900, 950; Kindles (ALL of them!); Kobo Aura One	Still no - and not Tuesday either. The really weird thing is that, even if I go to 'downloading past issues' - it's still not there. Neither on my device or on the PC. I am travelling, but will give them a call Thursday when i get home. Thanks for your feedback.

01-24-2012, 05:15 PM	#14
Bookworm_Girl E-reader Enthusiast Posts: 4,871 Karma: 36507503 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Southwest, USA Device: Kindle Oasis 3; Kobo Aura One; iPad Mini 5	I received Tuesday's edition this morning. I put my Mac in sleep mode at night (i.e. not fully powered off). I wake it up in the morning. It connects to the internet, does its sync thing and a notification message pops up telling me to click it to download the news. So I click the message and then check Reader to see if it appears in the Periodicals section. I'm impressed with how smoothly it has worked for me. It is odd though that you also cannot see it on your Account page. Therefore it doesn't seem isolated to the notification and download process on your computer. Weird.

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