Comments on: It is a little bit exciting, I must admit

By: Violet Laser

Violet Laser — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:06:15 +0000

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By: Saira

Saira — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:25:13 +0000

Just got mine last week! For older people like myself, the directions are not that easy to understand. However, the nice people at BooksOnBoard – link to their Sony help page: http://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?F=sony_reader_help_ – helped me muddle through it, and I absolutely love it. I think once you understand it, it’s quite simple to use.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:14:13 +0000

Oh I absolutely understand, it’s just frustrating trying to convince potential buyers – although I’m doing my best! And I’m very pleased that PanMac are doing their best in regard to removing DRM from the list of reasons people have for not buying. Keep up the great work, it is much appreciated by us early adopters.

By: James Long

James Long — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:47:39 +0000

Hi Alan- thanks for your comments – we’re sorry to hear you had a problem with the Cultural Amnesia file (but glad to hear you found a solution) – we’ll look into this issue right away.

BTW, although I agree that the choice of titles must be frustrating, it’s not really because publishers are purposefully withholding a lot of titles, and only releasing some. It’s a question of time and money, you know, as any production process is – we’re going as fast as we can! No doubt as ebook sales take-off and publishers establish a decent revenue stream in this area, that will in turn enable digitisation of more titles. Or to put it another way, the more folks buy, the more there will be to buy.

Cheers,
James

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:45:25 +0000

FYI, I fixed the book for the PRS-505. After some sleuthing, I found out that the epub reader software on the Sony has a limit of 300k per file inside the epub file. Your publishing software mustn’t have got the memo

Thankfully, because the file isn’t DRM’d, I was able to split the source files inside the epub in order to make it readable on the 505. While that makes me a happy bunny, I can’t see casual readers putting up with something like this! I know it’s early days, but if we’re going to be beta testers, can we at least get a discount Anyway, I’d suggest fixing the epub file… Now, finally on with the reading!

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:14:52 +0000

I absolutely love my 505. However, the content is king, and if the current support from the publishers is anything to go by, it’s not going to make it. Until we have the opportunity to buy _any_ book, not just the handful that the publishers choose, it’s going to be difficult to recommend the device as anything more than a toy to most. people. The crippling DRM doesn’t help either – I applaud your first steps in removing this ridiculous system. Let’s hope it continues.

Now my grumble: I purchased my first ebook from panmacmillan.com (Cultural Amnesia), only to find that it will not plan at all on my 505. Purchased ebooks from other publishers work fine, as does this book on the desktop. However, trying to view on-device results in ‘Page Error’. Not happy at all.

By: Steve Baxendale

Steve Baxendale — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:23:06 +0000

On the Saturday of release I went into the Trafford Centre to see the Reader at first hand and buy one if happy. After a play with the display unit the purchase was thwarted by both Waterstones and the Sony shop having sold out. An online purchase at the Sony shop had the Reader in my hands on Tuesday. So either they did not have many or they are really popular. There did seem to be a lot of interest in the display unit.

By: Clueful words from Pan Macmillan exec on her house’s DRM-shedding efforts | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:28:38 +0000

[...] speaking of Sara Lloyd: Read her reflections on the Waterstones/Sony Reader launch. "I must say it did make my heart leap just a little bit to see huge POS displays promoting [...]

By: Chris Meade

Chris Meade — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:48:59 +0000

Oh and I meant to say, thanks to Michael and James for their contribution to the if:bookgroup last night, documented at http://www.bookfutures.blogspot.com.

By: Chris Meade

Chris Meade — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:47:15 +0000

Well, I got my Reader through the post and after playing with it today personally like it lots, find it helps focus the mind on the text, and am sure my mum and the ‘butwhatswrongwithrealbooksyoullneverreplacetheirlookandfeel’ brigade will be won over by it, but it’s useless for the kind of multimedia creative innovation in literature that is really what interests me about words on screen, so this tipping point feels curious.. one step forward and at least one step back. Lots to discuss at Small Wonder!