Txtr without WLAN

[carlobee]

naah.. that's disappointing. tsk3. not good.

[HansTWN]

They didn't just shoot themselves in the foot, they intentionally stepped on a grenade and took the foot right off. Now it is just another device, and heavily overpriced at that. Wish I was that dumb.

[egridou]

I cannot believe everybody needs online connectivity for his e-reader. How much time per day do you spend online with your existing e-reader? I thought it was meant to read, not to surf?
All I need is a good 6" screen with a smart interface. And I can't find a reliable one on the market now. That said, such a "simple" reader also needs a real good price to be a winner. Wouldn't you consider buying it with a further 50€ rebate?

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by egridou

I cannot believe everybody needs online connectivity for his e-reader. How much time per day do you spend online with your existing e-reader? I thought it was meant to read, not to surf?
All I need is a good 6" screen with a smart interface. And I can't find a reliable one on the market now. That said, such a "simple" reader also needs a real good price to be a winner. Wouldn't you consider buying it with a further 50€ rebate?

The Txtr had a few features I liked, one of them was the wifi. But, together with the fairly high price, it's no longer worth it, imo. I have my Mini and JE100 for normal reading, I wanted the Txtr to go beyond that. But, with a fixed 3G connection I doubt I could even use it (not living in Germany and all).

[pardana]

Originally Posted by egridou

I cannot believe everybody needs online connectivity for his e-reader.

You only see a device that replaces some books.

I see a energy-efficient device with a slow static screen.

I wanted this thing for:
Reading all the books that i cannot read cause the font is so small, that i can only read 2 pages bevore i get problems with my eyes.
I want to know, who has called me, when i come from work. Which faxes i got and wheter i should print them. RSS Reader would be nice, but now my biggest problem would be how to get the taz (“Die Tageszeitung”) onto the gadget. Also i wanted to have some openstreetmap plans on it.

There are a lot of things you can do with a slow screen. If you just want to read bought ebooks, there are cheaper and better gadgets.
I do some tech stuff in my recreation time. I do not want to fret me in my _recreation_ time. So i wait maybe another year.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by egridou

I cannot believe everybody needs online connectivity for his e-reader. How much time per day do you spend online with your existing e-reader? I thought it was meant to read, not to surf?
All I need is a good 6" screen with a smart interface. And I can't find a reliable one on the market now. That said, such a "simple" reader also needs a real good price to be a winner. Wouldn't you consider buying it with a further 50€ rebate?

It is simple marketing. You take away the one thing that really sets you apart from the competition. There are a lot of uses for WiFi and nobody else has it right now. Do you always need it? No. Sure, another big rebate might mean they would still be able to sell this thing. But is that wise? Discount 70 Euros to save 15 on hardware? And how in the world can a device made in Germany compete on price with all those China made products? They have no chance if they do not offer more features. It also seems to be much heavier and "geekier" looking.

Even worse is the way they handled this change in specs. To make a lot of noise about it and then decide at the very last moment not to deliver -- this will be a great case study for business schools for years to come.

[orwell2k]

I for one didn't care about the wifi, although no doubt if it was in I would find a use then slash my wrists if it was unavailable.

I was more interested in the device for reading multiple formats, and the open architecture interested me for things like FBReader and CoolReader being ported onto the devices soon. But that's still an open (forgive the pun) question, and coupled with the price (even the new one) it's still a big maybe for me.

I'm almost convinced to get the PB360, as it suits my multi-format needs much more (and has the Ukraine/Russian teams doing firmware development, which is always a good sign - they made the best Hanlin V3 firmware, especially since FB2 is such a popular format for them).

[tompe]

Originally Posted by orwell2k

I'm almost convinced to get the PB360, as it suits my multi-format needs much more (and has the Ukraine/Russian teams doing firmware development, which is always a good sign - they made the best Hanlin V3 firmware, especially since FB2 is such a popular format for them).

The PB360 is on the top of my list now also.

Maybe the removed the WiFi since they are selling net subscriptions were you pay monthly to download books. If they also have WiFi were you can download the books for free it will reduce the number of people who will subscribe.

[CommanderROR]

Newest update from txtr is that there will be devices for sale this year, but only very few.
Just to keep you updated...^^

Why there will be no review samples I dod not know, usually the press gets it first, then the public...

[mtravellerh]

Originally Posted by tompe

Maybe the removed the WiFi since they are selling net subscriptions were you pay monthly to download books. If they also have WiFi were you can download the books for free it will reduce the number of people who will subscribe.

That is what I am suspecting, too!

[garthoid]

WiFi for me is no big deal, however I would also be looking for a significant price drop from its original suggest price with wifi. (I know I know, good luck on that).

[Dulin's Books]

Originally Posted by mtravellerh

That is what I am suspecting, too!

and I think they may have said as much in their blog post. My High School German is a bit rusty but it along with a quick online translation thinks that this line

Da wir Mobilfunk in jedem Fall machen wollen — ein Gerät mit Onlineverbindung, die nicht konfiguriert werden muß, ist so viel einfacher zu bedienen als eins ohne — blieb nur, WLAN zu opfern.

in english reads something like

"Because we want it to have mobile/cellular connectivity - and a device with on-line connection, must not be configured to operate so easy without it- our only choice was to sacrifice WLAN"


Seems like the they had to trade out the WiFi because of pressure from the Edge provider to ensure that people bought monthly plans.

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

There are a lot of uses for WiFi and nobody else has it right now.

The iLiad has it (3 years), and the Boox (few weeks). Soon the nook will too.

I think there may be another device, but I can't remember.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

The iLiad has it (3 years), and the Boox (few weeks). Soon the nook will too.

I think there may be another device, but I can't remember.

I knew about the Iliad, but with the Irex 800 coming out I am sure they will retire that model. And from what I read the Iliad has too many shortcomings to consider it. And unfortunately the Newstand app only works on the DR, which doesn't have WiFi.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

and I think they may have said as much in their blog post. My High School German is a bit rusty but it along with a quick online translation thinks that this line



in english reads something like

"Because we want it to have mobile/cellular connectivity - and a device with on-line connection, must not be configured to operate so easy without it- our only choice was to sacrifice WLAN"


Seems like the they had to trade out the WiFi because of pressure from the Edge provider to ensure that people bought monthly plans.

Your almost got it. Not easy to get it exactly right! "We definitely want cellular connectivity -- a device with an online connection that does not need to be configured is much easier to operate than one without such a connection -- therefore our only choice was to sacrifice WLAN." Not easy to get it exactly right!

A lot of marketing baloney, of course. Anyway, I am sure pressure from the mobile provider had much to do with this decision. But why on earth didn't they come to this conclusion months ago? And if they don't have WLAN and people have to buy subscriptions then the device should be subsidized since they stand to make more money down the road.

On the other hand, if I remember correctly, you can use any SIM?