kobobooks.com review

onewayherway · 12-15-2009, 11:15 AM

Just checked out shortcovers new name and site called kobobooks.com.
It is an improvement for browsing books. There are now sections like mystery, romance etc.
There is now a link to free books but all the free books appear to be web based or mobile. Not for ereaders. This is not an improvement to those who use ereaders. I can get the same books at manybooks, feedbooks, gutenberg all in epub format.
I am enjoying the 24 days of deals though and trying new authors because of it.
So out of 5 I would give kobobooks.com a 3. Meets my book purchasing needs but the fuss about the freebooks is not such a big deal.

ficbot · 12-15-2009, 11:43 AM

I dislike the new name. There is a cellphone brand here called Koodo which sounds very similar. I think the name is silly. And I still would like someone to answer my question about wish lists. I posted it here and in an IM to the guy from Shortcovers who posts here and they have all ignored me.

lunged · 12-15-2009, 11:52 AM

Just got this email today. The website is better, but very similar. I, too, dislike the new name. It seemingly has nothing to do with books and is just more pointless web 2.0 gibberish.

kovidgoyal · 12-15-2009, 12:00 PM

kobo is just book re-arranged which sort of makes their new name bookbooks.com

JCKobo · 12-15-2009, 12:11 PM

Thanks for the review of our new site!

We are loading 1.8M titles from the Internet Archive into our system right now, all of which will be available for download in ePub and/or PDF (depending on the title). That should help with your free book addiction

Jordan Christensen
Product Manager, Kobo

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewayherway

Just checked out shortcovers new name and site called kobobooks.com.
It is an improvement for browsing books. There are now sections like mystery, romance etc.
There is now a link to free books but all the free books appear to be web based or mobile. Not for ereaders. This is not an improvement to those who use ereaders. I can get the same books at manybooks, feedbooks, gutenberg all in epub format.
I am enjoying the 24 days of deals though and trying new authors because of it.
So out of 5 I would give kobobooks.com a 3. Meets my book purchasing needs but the fuss about the freebooks is not such a big deal.

lunged · 12-15-2009, 12:12 PM

LOL, I just came back to post that Kobo is "Book." Still kind of stupid, but at least it DOES mean something.

JCKobo · 12-15-2009, 12:13 PM

Sorry for the delay getting back to you ficbot - we've been swamped with switching to the new site. I replied to your PM, but consider emailing help@kobobooks.com if you want a faster reply.

Yours,
Jordan Christensen
Product Manager, kobo

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

I dislike the new name. There is a cellphone brand here called Koodo which sounds very similar. I think the name is silly. And I still would like someone to answer my question about wish lists. I posted it here and in an IM to the guy from Shortcovers who posts here and they have all ignored me.

anurag · 12-15-2009, 12:17 PM

I see usability issues with their new name.

They don't own http://kobo.com, and their branding focuses only on 'Kobo', not on 'Kobo Books' - so I see a lot of people typing kobo.com into their address bars to get to their book store.

The same issue exists with search - a lot of people navigate to a website using Google, and they are going to type in Kobo ('Kobo Books' is longer to type) but Kobo Books won't be the top search result.

Why make it harder for people to find you? Shortcovers was a unique, easy-to-remember name. Longer to type, but hard to get wrong.

JCKobo · 12-15-2009, 12:34 PM

I expect we'll be the top search result for Kobo pretty soon - takes a little while for Google to propagate our search ranking over from Shortcovers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anurag

I see usability issues with their new name.

They don't own http://kobo.com, and their branding focuses only on 'Kobo', not on 'Kobo Books' - so I see a lot of people typing kobo.com into their address bars to get to their book store.

The same issue exists with search - a lot of people navigate to a website using Google, and they are going to type in Kobo ('Kobo Books' is longer to type) but Kobo Books won't be the top search result.

Why make it harder for people to find you? Shortcovers was a unique, easy-to-remember name. Longer to type, but hard to get wrong.

anurag · 12-15-2009, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCShortcovers

I expect we'll be the top search result for Kobo pretty soon - takes a little while for Google to propagate our search ranking over from Shortcovers.

I'm sure you're trying already, but you should probably purchase http://kobo.com as well, even if it costs you significantly more than $9.99

But as far as the new website is concerned, I like the new design and content. The category lists are nice, and I like that you now display more info (including the available formats) on the result list pages - major usability improvement.

JCKobo · 12-15-2009, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anurag

But as far as the new website is concerned, I like the new design and content. The category lists are nice, and I like that you now display more info (including the available formats) on the result list pages - major usability improvement.

Thanks - hopefully the new structure will help you crawl us easier as well!

Elfwreck · 12-15-2009, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onewayherway

Just checked out shortcovers new name and site called kobobooks.com.
It is an improvement for browsing books. There are now sections like mystery, romance etc.
There is now a link to free books but all the free books appear to be web based or mobile. Not for ereaders.

The first one I spotted says it's available in epub--but wants me to download ADE. Sigh. And maybe requires a kobo registration, but I suppose I should expect that, even for free ebooks.

Elfwreck · 12-15-2009, 05:04 PM

The FAQ has some problems.

"In order to read an eBook using Adobe ® Digital Editions, it must be an ePub."
Or a PDF. If you don't carry PDFs, that's fine (great, in fact), but I don't like false info in FAQs. Could be edited to , "In order to read an eBook from kobobookscom using ADE..."

"Our Gutenberg titles can be printed out using ADE. Other eBooks which are DRM-protected cannot be printed at this time."
I know what DRM is. Other readers may not. It's a good idea to define the terms in your FAQs.

A mention that the non-Gutenberg books on your site are all DRM'd would be nice; that'd let me know not to bother with the place. ADE is currently unavailable to me, and I'm not sure I want to bother having any DRM software on the shiny new computer.

From the About eBooks page: "eBooks come in a variety of formats, though most commonly they are found as PDFs or as ePubs."
What formats *do you carry*. Unless you're going to discuss the abstract concept of ebooks in PDF, ePub, Mobi, Lit, pdb, and so on... just say what formats are available through Kobobooks. Mention which of them are tied to specific devices.

Anyone who knows what a file format is, wants more info than "ebooks are commonly PDF or ePub."

JCKobo · 12-15-2009, 05:20 PM

Thanks Elfwreck - I'll see what I can do to get our FAQ clarified.

Lilly · 12-15-2009, 05:41 PM

I might be slow but most books says available for Web, Mobile. Why not tell me the format like other ebookstores (B&N being the exception). Is it an ePub, PDF, Lit, Mobi format?

12-15-2009, 11:15 AM	#1
onewayherway Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 38 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony reader 505	kobobooks.com review Just checked out shortcovers new name and site called kobobooks.com. It is an improvement for browsing books. There are now sections like mystery, romance etc. There is now a link to free books but all the free books appear to be web based or mobile. Not for ereaders. This is not an improvement to those who use ereaders. I can get the same books at manybooks, feedbooks, gutenberg all in epub format. I am enjoying the 24 days of deals though and trying new authors because of it. So out of 5 I would give kobobooks.com a 3. Meets my book purchasing needs but the fuss about the freebooks is not such a big deal.

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12-15-2009, 11:43 AM	#2
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	I dislike the new name. There is a cellphone brand here called Koodo which sounds very similar. I think the name is silly. And I still would like someone to answer my question about wish lists. I posted it here and in an IM to the guy from Shortcovers who posts here and they have all ignored me.

12-15-2009, 11:52 AM	#3
lunged Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 122 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Orlando, FL Device: iPad	Just got this email today. The website is better, but very similar. I, too, dislike the new name. It seemingly has nothing to do with books and is just more pointless web 2.0 gibberish.

12-15-2009, 12:00 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,156 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	kobo is just book re-arranged which sort of makes their new name bookbooks.com

12-15-2009, 12:12 PM	#6
lunged Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 122 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Orlando, FL Device: iPad	LOL, I just came back to post that Kobo is "Book." Still kind of stupid, but at least it DOES mean something.

12-15-2009, 12:17 PM	#8
anurag Addict Posts: 236 Karma: 4066 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: California Device: Kindle 1 and DX, iPhone	I see usability issues with their new name. They don't own http://kobo.com, and their branding focuses only on 'Kobo', not on 'Kobo Books' - so I see a lot of people typing kobo.com into their address bars to get to their book store. The same issue exists with search - a lot of people navigate to a website using Google, and they are going to type in Kobo ('Kobo Books' is longer to type) but Kobo Books won't be the top search result. Why make it harder for people to find you? Shortcovers was a unique, easy-to-remember name. Longer to type, but hard to get wrong.

12-15-2009, 05:04 PM	#13
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	The FAQ has some problems. "In order to read an eBook using Adobe ® Digital Editions, it must be an ePub." Or a PDF. If you don't carry PDFs, that's fine (great, in fact), but I don't like false info in FAQs. Could be edited to , "In order to read an eBook from kobobookscom using ADE..." "Our Gutenberg titles can be printed out using ADE. Other eBooks which are DRM-protected cannot be printed at this time." I know what DRM is. Other readers may not. It's a good idea to define the terms in your FAQs. A mention that the non-Gutenberg books on your site are all DRM'd would be nice; that'd let me know not to bother with the place. ADE is currently unavailable to me, and I'm not sure I want to bother having any DRM software on the shiny new computer. From the About eBooks page: "eBooks come in a variety of formats, though most commonly they are found as PDFs or as ePubs." What formats do you carry. Unless you're going to discuss the abstract concept of ebooks in PDF, ePub, Mobi, Lit, pdb, and so on... just say what formats are available through Kobobooks. Mention which of them are tied to specific devices. Anyone who knows what a file format is, wants more info than "ebooks are commonly PDF or ePub."

12-15-2009, 05:20 PM	#14
JCKobo Kobo Product Guy Posts: 244 Karma: 36848 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Vox	Thanks Elfwreck - I'll see what I can do to get our FAQ clarified.

12-15-2009, 05:41 PM	#15
Lilly Guru Posts: 688 Karma: 2090 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-900 & PRS-950, Amazon Kindle2	I might be slow but most books says available for Web, Mobile. Why not tell me the format like other ebookstores (B&N being the exception). Is it an ePub, PDF, Lit, Mobi format?

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