02-21-2006, 05:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Sony Launches Another eBook Platform
http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/6394
From the people that brought you the Sony Rootkit for your PC comes another piece of hardware that will no doubt give new life to DRM frustrations. I have no doubt the new "paper-like" screen will make it one of the better ebook solutions available, despite the fact that no ebooks exist for it yet as it surely will have a new Sony format. :roll:
"In recent years millions of people have become comfortable downloading and enjoying digital media, including eBooks. But until now, there has not been a good device on which to read," said Ron Hawkins, senior vice president of Personal Reader Systems marketing at Sony Electronics. "Our research has shown that people are looking for a device designed exclusively for immersive reading. The Sony Reader with its electronic paper display, thin format and extraordinary battery life fits the bill."
I couldn't possibly disagree with that statement more. Dedicated ebook platforms, no matter how much extra stuff is put on them, will never be a big success. People just aren't willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a shell that they then have to go out and buy content for. This isn't music. People expect to have a player of some sort for their $15 CD, be it a portable CD player or an MP3 player to hold all of their songs, but you can go out and buy a $7 book and that is all you need. Why buy a device and then spend $7 for the book? I am not sure what the right model is. Pocket PCs are getting too small to comfortably read ebooks. My K-Jam, as impressive as the screen is, is just too tiny to comfortably hold for hours, unlike my larger iPAQ 3900. What do you think? Will Sony be successful with this, or can anyone in the foreseeable future be successful with a device that is for ebooks first and foremost?
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02-21-2006, 05:10 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 4
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Re: Sony Launches Another eBook Platform
I probably would get this on 2 conditions: -
1 - it was not ridiculously expensive for device or content
2 - The pages were formatted properly
I find ebooks that i've tried unreadable because the lines are wrapped in the wrong place.
I do a lot of travelling and would like to take a few books away with me without the luggage space being taken up.
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02-21-2006, 05:26 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 131
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Here is the test. If you can read a whole book on your PC or laptop then you'll definiteley be comfortable carrying an ebook reader.
I don't really think the price is the problem, the main problem is form factor and comfortability to the eyes.
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02-21-2006, 05:43 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 118
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I have read a large number of books on my pocket pc's over the last 5 years. I have pretty much given up on the Microsoft Reader but find the EReader to be excellent and with a good number of books available at their store. Wordwrap is wordwrap and their program functions very well with quick pagination.
The Sony looks to be too large for one-handed reading, and that is what I want in an ereader. I do much of my reading in bed with the lights out so as not to disturb my mate.
Brad
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02-21-2006, 06:16 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 481
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Re: Sony Launches Another eBook Platform
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
senior vice president of Personal Reader Systems marketing at Sony Electronics.
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I think this gives some insight into Sony's problems. A Senior Vice President of marketing for a product with no current market to speak of?
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02-21-2006, 06:28 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 444
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Re: Sony Launches Another eBook Platform
I am loath to buy into yet another of Sony's proprietary formats.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by PPCRules
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Ed Hansberry
senior vice president of Personal Reader Systems marketing at Sony Electronics.
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I think this gives some insight into Sony's problems. A Senior Vice President of marketing for a product with no current market to speak of? |
No offense, but your comment suggests a lack of understanding of the marketing function. Whether or not guy does his job well is another matter...
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02-21-2006, 06:36 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 4
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Grr. Sony may be the most annoying thing ever, and it didn't start with the DRM fiasco. MemorySticks, anybody? They've been sticking it to their customers for ages.
And another thing: "until now, there has not been a good device on which to read"
Further evidence that Sony and its employees live in their own little world where their technology is actually valued and their heavy-handedness is not considered idiocy. My Axim X50v's screen is, IMO, amazing and I adore reading MobiReader eBooks on it. The only thing holding me back is selection, which is constantly improving on FictionWise.com, etc.
Sony's product might be compelling if: A. they had a clue about delivering a product their customers might want; B. it used non-proprietary technology (i.e., not MemoryStick, which won't happen); C. they did not use an invasive DRM scheme that would leave one's computer vulnerable to viruses or similar and D. if the device could read non-proprietary ebooks (which it almost certainly will not).
I foresee a brief life of strife for this device, fraught with frustration from the comsumers, followed by a painful death that Sony will blame on its customers.
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02-21-2006, 07:02 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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http://www.luthier.ca/other/forum/ubook.png
***image changed to link by moderator JD. please don't embed large images, remember we have mobile users.***
That's uBook. It can look a lot of ways, with pages of user-definable options. On a 4 inch Toshiba screen it looKs great. I'll not be buying a device with a smaller screen.
Of course a dedicated ebook-only device is unlikely to succeed. People who think they will are plainly out of touch with actually using mobile devices, or actual books for that matter. Integration into one's life is an important component of reading. There are those for whom a paper book is the only way to go. For others, a lighter load is desirable, hence the success of ebook reader programs for the PPC. uBook is one of the best. My only complaint is with PPC screens being too bright at their lowest settings for really comfortable lights-out reading. I'd want something more like Indiglo brightness or perhaps a little brighter, just enough to read by without lighting up the ceiling, or my wife's face while she's trying to sleep. Otherwise I've zero complaints. uBook offers a better reading experience for me than any paper book ever did, and my library of ZIP archived HTML formatted books are all accessible within seconds, a few taps, whenever I get the urge to read something different.
Cory Doctorow's words on DRM are important ones. His finger on the pulse is somewhat more reliable than Sony's or any other DRM queen's, as he has to earn a living from his writing, knows his readers and their predilictions. He knows that a locked format is a dead format, something consumers won't want to pay for, and so he gives his stuff away free, trusting readers to keep his larder stocked by the goodness of their hearts. So far it's working out rather nicely for him.
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02-21-2006, 07:03 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 92
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bleah
I'm much more of a traditional paper and ink or audiobook guy. Besides, the rootkit fiasco was the last straw with me as far as Sony is concerned. I've begun buying other brand equipment to replace my Sony gear as it dies. I'd like to avoid putting money in their pockets if there's a reasonable alternative.
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02-21-2006, 07:58 PM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,060
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Just wait... The next generation of these devices that Sony pushes will have an MP3 player, then a couple of word games, then a couple of PIM utilities, then... 
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