Sony writes up UK e-book viewer plan Sony obviously read pollster YouGov's research into the current state of the UK e-book viewer market, because the Japanese electronics giant has promised to boost its e-book efforts over here. The firm currently sells three models in the UK: the original Reader, the Reader Pocket Edition and the Touch Edition. It recently …
I suspect that Bluetooth would be a better connection method for a keyboard, given the form factor. But I also suspect that's quite a minority interest capability, so you will probably need to wait for the second generation to get well established before you see that.
I love my original Sony Reader, and can't wait for one with a practical subscription method for periodicals.
GJC
The Sony 3G product is desperately required in the UK.
Amazon's kindle is coming out some time here before Christmas and will dominate with its own book store with restricted proprietary format.
Sony needs to come to town with a device and book store which allows users to simply download titles in the open industry standard EPUB.
The last thing I want is to have to choose between a product that works but locks me in and a product that is awkward but gives me control of the ebooks I buy.
Try buying an ebook from waterstones... such a painful experience it will never take off in that form.
I went on holiday a few weeks ago and very nearly bought a sony reader, I love e-ink and desrerately want a reader! I was about to cough the £200 untill i noticed that the books are just as dear as the paper counterparts! to create and distribute paper books requires logistics, printing, and general human intervention... I dont mind paying for something nice... but a digital copy is costless...
does the author get a larger royalty from an ebook as the manufacturing and distribution costs are zero? the middlemen all get a bigger chunk and that isnt fair!
I would hapilly pay for an electronic title, if it was a sensible price, or like many of my bluerays - buy the physical media and get a free evectronic version too...
untill then... sony can bring out as many excellent readers as they want, its the bastards that are holding me back!!!
Will I be able to read my books for ever, on the hardware of my choice? Or will they be forever tied to a Sony product that'll break down in a few years time? Also do I trust Sony's answer, given their previous form for DRM-malware distribution?
In any case, squashed tree is a better random-access device for use by humans, then anything with a screen. E-books are for people who never learned how to do non-linear reading.
It's not worth it until UK publishers change their policies. Economically, it makes good sense to buy eBooks in America because they're nearly always cheaper than the paperbacks.
In the UK (looking at you, Waterstones), the eBook price is usually on a par with the hardback RRP, but without any of the discounts you'll usually find on that price when buying it in a shop.
But don't worry. Remember, in the eyes of Sony and the publishers, it's the consumers' fault for not being prepared to pay through the nose for digital content.
before I get one, if ever, unless the gready publishers wake up to the late 20th century.
I love the idea of ebook readers and would sorely like one for my wife who is a voracious reader but at £200+ for the reader plus the inflated prices for a LEASED copy of any books you want to read (at least anything still in copyright) it's just a waste of money.
I hear a couple of ebook reader makers are talking with local libraries to allow free checkouts of electronic format books on a limited time basis, just like for real books, and think that would be the absolute killer app for these. Forget advertising like "can hold 10,000 books" because that is 10,000 x ~£8 currently to fill it! A bigger seller would be a nominal (say less than £50) annual subscription for all-you-can-read services including magazines, newspapers and _recent_ novels, even with encumbered DRM that would be perfectly acceptable for me. With that I would buy two tomorrow.
BB as publishers are using that novel like a manual (and the recent amazon kindle kerfuffle).
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