Sony website is very bad

[markbot]

I suppose sony must assume buyers will be making their decision at the physical retail location thus sony has no need to present a rich multimedia review of the Sony readers. this is a very old way of thinking about consumer electronics if u ask me.

I was looking up the Sony 700 and there was no video presentation like with the Kindle....only some pics and a basic feature overview. it is sort of sold like any other electronic device....like a camera. they rely too much on third party review sites. they should be more aggressive and take more control.

i think if u r selling a new product category, u definitely need to provide more online information. the consumer is not well educated on the device....as like compared with a camera or laptop. sony doesn't even have the manual easily accessible, like the kindle does. Sony thinks the product sells itself which is not true for a new type of product.

this is one example of amazon's advantage over sony...the ability to sell. amazon has much better know-how in marketing and customer service, etc.

I also started using sony's ebook software so that I can download the google books. it is seriously crappy. sony clearly lacks 2 critical elements.....software expertise and marketing. competitors of sony that do have these expertise beat sony badly. Amazon and Apple are 2 examples.

[lilac_jive]

They have a product video on the 505, I know that much.

I also don't mind the Sony software at all, but I know I'm in the minority. It's like iTunes (which, actually, I've heard a lot of people complain about as well), for me, it does what I need it to do.

As for marketing, Sony went with a low-level kind of thing. I get the impression they really don't have a lot of money to throw at this, so they've been using a lot of word of mouth, and strategic marketing placement (on romance blogs, print ads in cities). You can also demo a 700 at Borders.

[MerLock]

I was pretty impressed with the product video for the 505 when it was launched. If I remember correctly, they had a whole site devoted to it and it was very informative. I'm not sure if that site for the 505 is still up but it would be nice if they included the 700 in it to show off the differences.

There is plenty of information on the 700 and videos as well. But we shouldn't have to "dig" for it. My opinion anyways.

[Wetdogeared]

sonystyle.ca has some video of the basic functions. I admit this could have been done better, maybe with some audio??

Try here. Click on 'video', watch, then select 'galleries'.

or go to US store here, click on 'Learn' then 'Learn more' to watch and learn.


WDE. (I get along just fine with Sony's eBook Store and Library)

[Pangolyn]

You can actually see one of the Sony readers live at Target and Borders. Borders even has the PRS-700 on display, but you can't access the frontlight button. I bought the Sony specifically because I was able to go to Target, put in an SD card with a PDF on it and browse the document. Can't do that with a video on Amazon.

[Lady Blue]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I also don't mind the Sony software at all, but I know I'm in the minority. It's like iTunes (which, actually, I've heard a lot of people complain about as well), for me, it does what I need it to do.

[QUOTE=Wetdogeared;450229WDE. (I get along just fine with Sony's eBook Store and Library)[/QUOTE]

Gee, what did I just do up there?

I too have no problem with the Sony eBook Store and Library Software. It does everything I expect it to do. I don't know what all the fuss is about with those who don't like it. I don't understand. Should I expect it to make my coffee in the morning too?

It just works for me.

[Stitchawl]

I prefer to read Third Party reviews rather than trust the manufacturer's sales pitch. I have difficulty believing that the maker would tell me that the button placement is wrong or that the battery life isn't so hot... Reading half a dozen different third party reviews gives me a much clearer picture of what the product can 'really' do.

As for Sony software, that seems to work for me as well. Haven't had any difficulties with it and it loads all my books into the proper locations, arranges my collections, etc., etc. I do also use Calibre, and could probably get along without the Sony soft, but I find the two of them work well together for what I need them to do. I can't ask for more than that!

Stitchawl

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by Lady Blue

Gee, what did I just do up there?

I too have no problem with the Sony eBook Store and Library Software. It does everything I expect it to do. I don't know what all the fuss is about with those who don't like it. I don't understand. Should I expect it to make my coffee in the morning too?

It just works for me.

I think people like some of their programs to do lots and lots of cool things. Some of us don't. Those who do, use Calibre I can totally understand that. I don't think it is bad though.

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I prefer to read Third Party reviews rather than trust the manufacturer's sales pitch. I have difficulty believing that the maker would tell me that the button placement is wrong or that the battery life isn't so hot... Reading half a dozen different third party reviews gives me a much clearer picture of what the product can 'really' do.


Stitchawl

Great point. And that's why people come here

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Lady Blue

[SIZE="1"] I don't know what all the fuss is about with those who don't like it. I don't understand. Should I expect it to make my coffee in the morning too?

It is inconsistent with the operating system, it is radically different from all other pieces of software.
The first time I used it, it took me a very long time to figure out how to jump out of the book, how to add book into the reader, how to do lots of little things ...
I have no such problems with other programs. I use FreeBSD, Linux, Windows (all previous versions). I have used QNX, BeOS, I have played with OpenSolaris, several Unixes, and of course Mac OSX, yet I can not remember feeling so frustrated with software. I am an alpha geek and I usually enjoy playing with and discovering cool features in unusual pieces of software. I occasionally teach windows, AutoCAD, various office products, special SCADA-HMI software. As a part of my job I design user interfaces for SCADA-HMI programs used in operator rooms to run factory.

With inconsistency I mean
- when the program is maximized and the TaskBar in Windows is in "Auto hide" mode, the task bar is not shown when I go down with the mouse pointer. I have never had such problem with other SW. I find this extremely annoying due to my preferred workflow.
- Drag & Drop from other programs (Explorer, Total commander) does not work.
- Drag & Drop inside the Sony Library program does not work in some places, and works in unpredictable ways in other places.
- I can not save the book to the disk (I mean save under name I chose in the directory I select). I have "purchased" a book (with the $0 pricetag) on a windows computer at work and I wanted to take it home on an USB stick. I had to play a detective and it took me lots of effort to find a book on disk (file with meaningless cryptic name in a funny directory created automatically by Sony Software) and copy it on USB stick
- The color scheme is different than in the rest of the system. What if the user needs a high contrast color scheme?
- there are lots of little things that I can not remember from the top of my head, because I use Sony Library very seldom and it is impossible to install it under Wine here on Mint Linux.

[Lady Blue]

Originally Posted by kacir

It is inconsistent with the operating system, it is radically different from all other pieces of software.
The first time I used it, it took me a very long time to figure out how to jump out of the book, how to add book into the reader, how to do lots of little things ...
I have no such problems with other programs. I use FreeBSD, Linux, Windows (all previous versions). I have used QNX, BeOS, I have played with OpenSolaris, several Unixes, and of course Mac OSX, yet I can not remember feeling so frustrated with software. I am an alpha geek and I usually enjoy playing with and discovering cool features in unusual pieces of software. I occasionally teach windows, AutoCAD, various office products, special SCADA-HMI software. As a part of my job I design user interfaces for SCADA-HMI programs used in operator rooms to run factory.

With inconsistency I mean
- when the program is maximized and the TaskBar in Windows is in "Auto hide" mode, the task bar is not shown when I go down with the mouse pointer. I have never had such problem with other SW. I find this extremely annoying due to my preferred workflow.
- Drag & Drop from other programs (Explorer, Total commander) does not work.
- Drag & Drop inside the Sony Library program does not work in some places, and works in unpredictable ways in other places.
- I can not save the book to the disk (I mean save under name I chose in the directory I select). I have "purchased" a book (with the $0 pricetag) on a windows computer at work and I wanted to take it home on an USB stick. I had to play a detective and it took me lots of effort to find a book on disk (file with meaningless cryptic name in a funny directory created automatically by Sony Software) and copy it on USB stick
- The color scheme is different than in the rest of the system. What if the user needs a high contrast color scheme?
- there are lots of little things that I can not remember from the top of my head, because I use Sony Library very seldom and it is impossible to install it under Wine here on Mint Linux.

Uh . . . WOW . . . OK.

I think I get it. You're an alpha geek power user who runs a variety of really cool, sophisticated and specialized software on a variety of different, really cool, sophisticated and possibly specialized operating systems, and you design UIs for specialized programs for use in operator rooms to run a (probably really cool, sophisticated and specialized) factory, and you prefer to "auto hide" your Windows TaskBar while you work.

To address the inconsistencies you found the software to have: Well, I really don't know. I've never had a problem with any of those items you mentioned. Drag & Drop, downloading, importing and finding books works fine for me. I don't find the color scheme to be any problem at all.

You said the Sony Library was impossible to install under Wine and Mint Linux. I was able to install it just fine on my common Windows XP and Windows Vista systems, just like it says in the Reader Specs documentation. I don't remember reading that Wine, or Mint Linux was a recommended or compatible OS for the software though, so I can't comment on that.

Maybe that's it in a nutshell . . . Sony didn't design the software for power-users who want it, and expect it, to do much more for them, on operating systems that the average John and Jane Doe don't have (and many have never heard of) in their homes. I guess they were trying to make it as simple as possible for the average individual, whether technically-challenged or advanced, to use with its Reader. And in that respect it's adequate enough for me, my 76 year old aunt and my 62 year old sister, all of whom have varying degrees of computer ability and know-how, mostly on the low-end of the scale, if not totally inept compared to your prowess in the field.

I guess it boils down to the expectations we have of things.

And that's why Kovid and his Calibre are so special (and others like him.) He, and it, provide the tools for average people like me to crawl out from under our rocks (so to speak), advance through each stage of learning using these wonderful tools and programs to do more and more great things with our ebooks. But even Calibre will never make my coffee in the morning, so I remain not expecting too much from a software that never promised me a rose garden in the first place.

[Pangolyn]

Calibre does a great job. Why not install that if you are unhappy with the Sony software? It works great on PC and Mac so I assume the Linux version is just as nice. It's a very powerful piece of software and it gets updated constantly. I only use the Sony software for books from the Sony store. Fictionwise and other websites offer books the 700 can consume.

I mainly didn't like the Sony software because it seemed to mess up my catalogs on the machine quite often, especially for auto-sync groups.

[Ervserver]

This is just a Kindle lover slamming Sony post, whats the point