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Old 10-11-2006, 01:45 PM   #16
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There is already an example of B2B with the eFlyBook. To me this indicates the intent of iRex to market tailored devices for business or consumer specific purposes instead of just a widely marketed e-reader device. In as much this might indicate why the iLiad was closed off to developers very quickly after it was found to be pretty open in firmware 2.4 It could be that iRex perceives the device as proprietary and would want to independently capitalize on any marketing opportunities.

The beauty of the iLiad despite the current shortcomings is that it has a much greater perceived potential than the Sony Reader, especially when you take into consideration DRM constraints. I see the Sony Reader as being more just a e-reader (I am not casting any aspersions on the Sony Reader - I am sure it is a very competent, complete and marketable device) and the iLiad seems to be attempting to be more of a Swiss Army Knife of a reader with the potential of further capabilities.
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Old 10-11-2006, 01:52 PM   #17
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Another unexploited point is CF card devices, as well as USB devices.

But I keep wonder... would iReX allow a B2B partner really to enable devices? The wifi and the ethernet seem to be disabled too, and it seems that even partners are forced to go via iDS.
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Old 10-11-2006, 01:54 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by firekat
I see the Sony Reader as being more just a e-reader (I am not casting any aspersions on the Sony Reader - I am sure it is a very competent, complete and marketable device) and the iLiad seems to be attempting to be more of a Swiss Army Knife of a reader with the potential of further capabilities.
I see the same thing, firekat. The two products aren't really competitors, per se.

Now, if iRex identified a B2B customer who wanted to take the iLiad and create an e-reading optomized OS and suite of apps for it ... wouldn't that be a whole different ballgame?
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Old 10-11-2006, 01:55 PM   #19
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I can imagine:

"Hi? iRexTech? Here Amazon speaking... We are interested onyour device for our ebook bussiness... ah, so users must download from YOUR website?... and they can NOT browse Amazon? ... thanks a lot, I will call you, ahem, later."
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Old 10-11-2006, 01:55 PM   #20
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Old 10-12-2006, 04:58 AM   #21
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Following Firekat train of thought ... then what we have in our hands is basically a reference design (which I can believe given the quality of the device) - now I could think of loads of vertical uses for this ... however - normally when I see reference designs in a B2B scenario there is an excellent demo, or features built out to ecite me - for instance this device would fit really well into a PDF workflow ... but the PDF reader isn't built out to demonstrate it ...

As a corporate customer - I be interested in perceived potential - I'd balance this with the perceived ability to deliver and I'd look at the percieved dynamism of the company (even a start-up) to see how they create a buzz, how they can enrapture customers etc.

I still think that the PR is lacking, as a reference design, great hardware, not enough to show in software at this point to demonstrate potential and with the single vertical app which isn't greatly exciting .. more convincing needed for me still ...
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Old 10-12-2006, 12:34 PM   #22
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I see that you latched onto my "perceived" perceptions. I specifically included those caveats, as we are yet to see what this device can really do.

The thing is that when you have a Swiss Army Knife it does a number of things and, usually not one of them particularly well. The overhead of the iLiad loaded with all the bells and whistles may be what really hobbles this device.

The reason I pursued this device and I am sure is the motivation of many others is that it represented a "perceived" openness, and is not limited by DRM constraints. That was one of the biggest factors bantered about prior to it's availability. Other things were that it appeared that the specs were more impressive, screen size for me was a big motivator, the possibility of downloading context through the web, the touch screen with the ability to annotate and take notes was a nice benefit as well. All in all it appeared that this would be the "Super E-Reader", the specs blew away the Sony Reader.

We were disappointed that iRex did not seem to realize how great a consumer device this could be - after all we could tell them what more marketing opportunities and applications they could pursue since we represented a wide and diverse group of people that could share their insight. After much pestering iRex acquiesced, and released the iLiad under the proviso that it was not finished. We snapped them up like candy, paying the premium price with a mininum of complaint.

This has been a lesson to us all. For those that are in the industry and used to working with beta devices this is all pretty typical. For the rest of us this is a wakeup call that we should probably steer away from these devices till they are truly ready for prime time.

Overall I have to say the basic idea is good, the implementation so far - not so. Hopefully they will have this thing "good to go" some time in the near future. Hopefully some design concepts can be gleaned from the Sony Reader, like the wake up from a suspended state. (I have real issues with how long this thing takes to start up.) I cannot say that I am really satisfied with my purchase - so far. It currently is in no way even close to my expectations. I am an optomist and I believe (to a certain extent) that iRex will stand and deliver for the most part. I am sure that in the end I will be fully satisfied. Will I ever buy a beta device again? Unless it is in my bailiwick of experience, absolutely no! As envious as I might be with the Sony Reader at this point in time since everything on it works, I probably would not be happy with that either. The whole e-reader concept is just not all that mature.

So far life with the iLiad is using it minimally. I have started utilizing it as I intended, though it is not really up to my expectations.

All we really can do right now is wait, hopefully iRex can make this work really well and up to it's full potential.

Last edited by firekat; 10-12-2006 at 01:04 PM.
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Old 10-12-2006, 10:51 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pdam
Following Firekat train of thought ... then what we have in our hands is basically a reference design (which I can believe given the quality of the device) - now I could think of loads of vertical uses for this ... however - normally when I see reference designs in a B2B scenario there is an excellent demo, or features built out to ecite me
On their forum iRex has mentioned "custom units" having been produced. The design of the case is rather clever in that it allows easy customization of front or back via "rapid prototyping" techniques.
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