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back to article Sony to close North American ebook store, punt customers to Kobo

Struggling Sony has announced that it is quitting the ebook-selling business in the US and Canada and will instead rely on Kobo to supply content for its ereader devices in North America from now on. "Sony's Reader Store customers and their current eBook libraries will transfer to the Kobo ecosystem starting in late March," …

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  1. Missing Semicolon Silver badge
    FAIL

    "Frictionless"

    oh, and price.

    That's the big advantage of the Kindle. Buying books and getting them on to your reader is a simple, one-hit process. And Whispernet means you don't even need WiFi.

    Buying books for the Sony devices has always been a right mare - remember, the older versions had no wireless, and the protocol from PC to device is simple file transfer. So, buying a book is a multi-step process that all but the most dedicated would give up on and return the device. Don't get me started on the content-provider-specified bowl of sick that Adobe Digital Editions is.

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    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Frictionless"

      Just as easy on kobo, with no Amazon lock in. You can also rent books for free in the UK with epub and kobo

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  2. Mage Silver badge

    Sad really

    A pioneer bites the dust. I was impressed when I first saw an eBook Reader with eInk screen physically rather than a web site. But it was too expensive (2007 or 2008). Sony needed to pair with a book publisher from the start rather than do a bad version of iTunes for books.

    But last year we bought Kindle paperwhite (without 3G).

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    1. SundogUK Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: No great loss

      Sony Reader + Calibre software = WIN!

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  4. bep

    Another one bites the dust

    Another company that made good hardware but never got its Windows software sorted. I'm another who has a Sony eReader, I've been buying books from Kobo for ages since the Sony store never worked in Australia.

    The Sony software works kind-of, as long as you have Adobe Digital Editions running as well. With that combo you can usually load the Kobo books onto the device OK, and in my experience it's the only way to ensure you get the book covers and so on looking as they should in the library. But the software has always been buggy and it's more of a faff than it should be.

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  5. Paw Bokenfohr

    Reader Software? Really?

    Is there anyone using Sony's bundled software anyway..?!

    I've got a PRS-600, have had it since soon after launch, and uninstalled Reader in favour of Calibre as soon as I did 2 minutes of web searching (along the lines of "better ebook software Sony reader") after hating Reader almost immediately.

    The device itself is excellent and still going strong. As is Calibre.

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  6. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Buy an e-Book?

    e-book = often $10, sometimes outrageously higher.

    Used Hardcover Book - Very Good or Like New = often $0.01 + S&H = $6.50 (YMMV)

    $10 price class gets you into the 'Signed By Author' category of used books - Collectible.

    Yes, I have a Kobo, and Kindle Apps on several types of tablets and smartphones. No, I'm not paying $10 for an e-book. The e-readers are loaded up with lots of free classics that need to be read, pdfs, etc.

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  7. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Correction

    "Kobo will launch a new version of its online store in late May that will be accessible from Kobo devices directly" - presumably you mean "accessible from Sony Reader devices", or do I misunderstand?

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