Archive for August 31st, 2007
11th hour for using Sony Connect ebook credit
August 31st, 2007 | 
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Although this reminder is on other sites, I decided to post on this anyway. What’s wrong with a little overkill? If you are one of the lucky ones that still have the $50 and 50 classic book credit, your time runs out today. I finally finished up my $50 credit last night. I still have about 19 more titles to chose in the classics. Blech! I could just let it go, but I won’t. I believe in getting what’s mine. I think the offer of the classic books is much like rebate offers. The manufacturer is hoping that you don’t send it in and the retailer doesn’t care because he’s already got your money. In Sony’s case, they really have nothing to lose on this deal. It’s all about perceived value on the customers’ end. After all not everyone knows that they can get the stuff for free. Also, they’re counting on you buying other titles while browsing. For instance I wanted to get the Cantebury Tales. There are more than one choice, but the lesser one counts as a free choice. So if I wanted a better copy with cover art then I have to pay more. From what I can tell they really haven’t cleaned up these classic titles nor have they added anything useful. What is added is DRM, so you can’t even give it away to someone who could use the book. All it does is save you time in converting the text, assuming you wanted the title in the first place. I wonder if Sony counts these free selections as part of books sold? Should they or does it seems like padding the books?
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First impressions of my iLiad
| I got off on a rocky start. It took me a couple of minutes just to figure out how to plug in the charger to the reader. In order to charge the reader it has to be connected to the dock/hub assembly. This makes it somewhat cumbersome. It would be better if the charging cable could be plugged into the reader directly. While I was figuring all this out, I got a chance to really look at the screen. It’s a generous 8.1 inches and while it is heavier than the Sony reader it feels better in my hands and easier to grip. It also has fewer buttons than the Sony making it much simpler. I also think that the iLiad looks much more professional than the Sony. It made me feel like I should be using it for either the betterment of mankind or at a job working on some super mega project. The canvas case is okay, just okay. It has a hard backing and a shoulder strap, but for $700 I think I should have gotten a free M-edge leather case. I bought one of these cases when I ordered the iLiad and it is very well made, soft and decadent looking. Here are my Pros and Cons: |  |
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| Is it worth the money? No. Do I regret buying it? Kind of. I just love e-book devices, so it is a welcomed addition. Although I was able to install what I wanted after much help from Harry on the Mobileread Forum, I don’t use the reader. I think my initial problems have turned me off. I have never bought a device that caused me so much angst. I think the moral of the story is that the iLiad is just not the device for me, at least not yet. It took too long in my opinion to it get it up and running. I am going to just forget about it for a month and come back to it and see what happens. Hopefully my iLiad won’t end up sitting between my Kolin reader and Sony Librie. |
