Bitchin' Blog Posts
Tools of Change: Readers and Reading Devices
by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | February 13, 2011 | Sunday at 5:44 am | 111 Comments
Starting Monday I’ll be at Tools of Change in Publishing, a conference that’s a sort of brainiac party at the intersection of publishing and digital innovation. Last year I called TOC a very full-brain conference because “both left and right brain perspectives are represented and explored.”
This year, Jane Litte and I were invited to present a panel on digital reading devices from the user’s perspective. If you’re attending ToC, it’s Wednesday at 2:30 pm. We’ll be talking about all the different digital reading devices and platforms, and the reader’s reaction. As it says in the description, we’ll be discussing “what real life book readers like, dislike, want to see, and couldn’t care less about” in their digital reading experience. Jane came up with this great list of items, and I added one more - customer service. I think the divide between the major players in digital reading rests largely on who can respond to customer questions quickly and clearly, because for many, the learning curve for digital reading adoption can be very steep.
So, if you could say anything to the folks who create and sell digital reading devices and programs, what would you tell them? What’s one thing you wish for, or one feature you can’t understand why it’s still included? If you could change one thing about your digital reading experience, what would it be (aside from “More time to read,” which is what I’d want, too)?
Filed: General Bitching, Random Musings
Tagged: tools of change, toc, readers, publishing, jane
Cyranetta said on 02.13.11 at 07:07 AM • [link]
I read on the iPad and iPod Touch (depending on circumstance), and overall I find the experience highly satisfactory.
#1 desire—get rid of territory rights! It’s nonsensical that I can purchase the physical copy but not the electronic copy from Amazon UK when I reside in the U.S.
Ell said on 02.13.11 at 07:37 AM • [link]
I get the impression some have it, but my Kobo doesn’t—if you have any significant number of books on your reader, you *need* a hierarchical file system.
Anna the Piper said on 02.13.11 at 07:58 AM • [link]
Oh man, where do I start on this? There’s so many things I could start talking about it’s not even funny, but given that this conference is apparently focused specifically on the devices and reading programs, I’ll say this:
I am quite irritated that if I want to read any of my ebook collection on my computer, I have to launch any number of different programs to do so. I would not necessarily KILL for a standard ebook program that would support various major publishers’ DRM and let me have as pleasant a reading experience on my computer as I do with my devices. But I’d definitely consider acts of mayhem.
(And before anybody suggests, yes, I do actually have Calibre and I swear by it—but it’s way more useful to me as a library manager than it is a way to actually read the books in question. If they’re DRMed books, Calibre only knows to go and launch whatever program those books are natively supposed to talk to, which is clumsy and annoying.)
A great many of my annoyances would be solved if we could legally lose the DRM, but that’s less the province of digital device and program creators and more the province of the publishers.
Jill L said on 02.13.11 at 08:28 AM • [link]
I would like to be able to read the blurbs on the back of the book, on my kindle I just see the title and I end up logging into amazon to see what the books are about.
I would also like to create subcategories for sorting books
Mary said on 02.13.11 at 08:35 AM • [link]
Hi,
Received a NookColor this past Christmas and LOVE it!
In answer to your question in general: My biggest pet peeve with ANY reading device, and this is my second in the last 13 years, is format. I would very much like it if companies would come up with one universal format. This leaves me free not to have to wonder, or look-up, whether the book I’m looking to purchase is in the format I need. Or even leave any publisher missing my consumer dollars because they don’t have the format for my device because my device’s company has gone out of business.
As far as any complaints I have with the the NookColor so far? Just a few. The screen is either too sensitive in some areas or not sensitive enough in others. I miss an off the screen back button like I miss lost opportunities at large wads of cash. This is something I am learning to deal with.
I miss options to catalog my books. Alphabetical by book title, alphabetical by author, alphabetical by series, and then have a sub-cat for how I want to categorize my books, all without side-loading another program for this one specific thing which should have been included with my reader. (I’m sure has been asked for before. But I’m going a bit bananas here!)
Also. If the option is given to allow side-loading books onto a device? Why? Why? Why? can’t I have the option of putting said side-loaded books exactly where I want them without hacking my perfectly good reader? (No, I didn’t root it. Or hack it. Or crack it. Could. But won’t. That’s too much work.) And the downloaded content? Why can’t I move it around inside my reader without being connected to my PC? Drag and drop should work just fine inside the reader. I’m already connected to the interwebbedtubes for the download, the content is already there. It is a tiny computer after all, no?
Urm, sorry.
Can we have an option to put what buttons we want on the desktop screen? I’d sure like a few that are in the pop-up screen to be accessible there instead. Again. This is a tiny computer after all, no?
I’d like an app built for all ebook devices to gather additional information about whatever book you download. Such as ‘Book X took six months to write and tips the scales at just shy of 1000 pages. But after elebenty years, author ABC could only get the second book, book Y, in at just under 900. (Is it Calibre that already does this?)
Inez Kelley said on 02.13.11 at 08:52 AM • [link]
One universal format and get rid of DRM!
Give me covers and blurb options without opening the book.
One universal format and get rid of DRM!
I’d love to be able to drag books to certain shelves without jumping through hoops.
One universal format and get rid of DRM!
cell a case/cove with the damn thing, not separate.
One universal format and get rid of DRM!
Would love to categorize by alphabetic order, by genre or something
Did I mention one universal format and get rid of DRM?
rebyj said on 02.13.11 at 08:52 AM • [link]
I have the Kindle 3. I LOVE it except for not being able to buy e-books elsewhere when they’re not available in the Kindle format. A very nice person tried to help me learn how to buy Shelter of Stone by Jean M. Auel from somewhere else when it wasn’t available from Amazon and get it onto my Kindle but I"m simply not tech smart enough to do it. I ended up buying a used paper copy.
My biggest complaint with the Kindle is the astounding amount of books that are not available. I have pushed the ” Tell the publisher you’d like to read this on your kindle” button 10 times more than I’ve found a book I wanted to read that I could actually purchase.
And as with Shelters of Stone, I found a good portion of those books available from other vendors.
I know a lot of this is my own fault, many fellow readers told me to buy a Sony instead of Kindle because of the limitations of the Kindle format of e-books. I didn’t LISTEN!!! :(
Lyssa said on 02.13.11 at 08:56 AM • [link]
I am basically a happy person, so after 8 months of having my Nook here are my problems: The increasing cost of nookbooks. Publishers want to release the digital books at the same time as HB and charge the same…I have a problem with that. Here is what I know, the majority of publishing costs are not physical materials but editorial, marketing, etc. But the material cost of physical books has to be higher than the cost of formating the material for different readers. So why try to charge the same (or sometimes more) for digital books. Readers are not idiots, don’t treat us as such. Little issues like these cause my ‘happy personality’ to go away and I will decide to wait for that book. (I can get stubborn about such things.)
Second problem with the nook in particular. MOVE THE slot for changing/headset jack. When I am laying in bed, enjoying a book and I get a ‘low battery’ warning I don’t want the cord poking my tummy (yes I have tummy to poke). This configuration also causes the ‘cords’ to be kinked. And If I have Kinky things in my life I don’t want them to be due to audio cords.
Hum, The whold organizing thing does not bother me. My nookbooks can be organized alphabetically which is how I do it any how.
That’s it…
elaine said on 02.13.11 at 08:59 AM • [link]
I use my iPad (and iPhone) as my universal eReader, and I use the Nook, Kindle, OverDrive and iBooks apps. Amazon has the best pricing, but the Kindle app sorely lacks the simple design and awesome user features that the iBooks has—namely, filing/organization and font choices. I also dislike that Kindle eBooks don’t have page numbering. (I can’t seem to give that up. The place numbers throw me off every time.) I love that iBooks and OverDrive resize and repaginate when I resize the font. Apple’s bookstore isn’t (yet) that amazing to me—pricing is usually significantly undercut by Amazon and it’s tough to navigate easily (no hyperlinking, for example).
OverDrive as an app is amazing—free library books FTW!—but lacks functionality—such as full, clear screen for the iPad—so I end up using my iPhone. It’s okay but not the best.
I work at a major electronics retailer, and I spend many hours each week talking about eReaders with customers. It seems many shoppers recognize the brand name without much functionality knowledge, and end up purchasing at price points rather than finding the right product for them. My advice for customers who are unsure is to go online to the eBookstores, do some price comparison for the books they are most likely to read, and go from there—especially students who are replacing physical texts with eBooks.
Jenn LeBlanc said on 02.13.11 at 09:44 AM • [link]
Get rid of DRM. If you buy a book you buy a book. I’m an author, and recently self published my first novel. It was difficult to navigate all the different formats I had to design for and everything that had to be done.
I own a Sony PRS700 and love it. I bought it two years ago when it was almost $400. Yeah OMGee. I went with it because it was library friendly and the Kindle was not. I have never regretted it, and still love it.
I recently bought an iPad for testing my novel on, and it is absolutely beautiful for reading on. I love the interface, I love the pages, I like that I can have BOTH PDF and EPUB files on it and go back and forth between the libraries without formatting my ereader in between because on the Sony PDFs and EPUDs aren’t allowed to live together happily.
I hate that I have five different kinds of software on three computers and two readers (not to mention my Android phone) So when I published I went DRM free, EPUB and PDF.
I think that (nearly) covers every option for my readers. I wish it were that simple.
I hope it can eventually be that simple.
I wish it was all easier.
Did I mention DRM free. Because that would rock the hizzouse.
Kerry D. said on 02.13.11 at 09:47 AM • [link]
What Cyranetta said!
Get rid of geographical restrictions.
(And DRM, but lots of other people have said that already.)
Laurel said on 02.13.11 at 10:14 AM • [link]
Aside from universal format and ditching DRM, I have one tiny thing that seems simple and savvy.
If I’m reading a series, why can’t there be a “Buy the next book NOW” button at the end of the book? Instead of having to go back out to the Kindle menu or my computer and add two or three extra steps? It seems like it would be easy and capitalize on impulse buys. The only thing I would have to do is make sure the eReader is online. Finish one book, click a button, purchase and start the next book. Huzzah!
Even for non-proprietary readers they could link out to the retailers that offer books in the right format and you would have the choice of purchasing from, say, Powell’s, the individual ePub, whatever.
roobarb said on 02.13.11 at 10:16 AM • [link]
I’ve not got a reader yet, am testing friends and have books on laptop an phone so far.
One thing I don’t like is that paperbooks can cost less than digital books. Surely it can’t cost more to put a book into this format?
Secondly I echo those comments above, I like to order my books how I want to order them. I’d like them in a similar style to the way they are kept in my house.
Thirdly I echo the comments about blurb, I don’t always use it, but I want the option.
And finally one format fits all please, s long as a book is in a language I can read I should be able to read it.
Bronwyn Parry said on 02.13.11 at 11:23 AM • [link]
Another vote for universal format. If I buy an ebook, I want to be able to read it on the device of my choice, in the program of my choice.
When there’s a universal format, I’ll buy an ereader. For now, I just read on my laptop and occasionally my iPhone.
Carol said on 02.13.11 at 11:28 AM • [link]
In Dec my lovely hubs and child got for me a Sony prs 650 which I love with a passion that probably isn’t healthy. Anyways, like previous commentators I would love to see something done about geo restrictions and formats and DRM. That is all!
Nessa said on 02.13.11 at 12:34 PM • [link]
Yes, down with territorial rights!
There are so many books that I NEED (read, want desperately) that are available on amazon.com but not amazon.uk. It hurts my heart every time I see an incidence of that.
(And yes, down with DRM, too.)
Min said on 02.13.11 at 01:33 PM • [link]
Oh, yes, please, no more geo restrictions. I’ll pay you my money gladly, but you won’t take because of where I just happen to live. And yes, please get rid of DRM.
Noelinya said on 02.13.11 at 01:39 PM • [link]
Another one for getting rid of the geographical restrictions. Why can I buy a book from anywhere but not an ebook ?
Daisy said on 02.13.11 at 01:46 PM • [link]
Better options for organizing my books into folders and subfolders.
Having more information available on the books before I buy: including translator!! For some of the books I would like to read, having the name of the translator is as important as the author. Similarly publication history: for example, if I like one book from a series or author, I want to be able to read the rest in order, and that is not always clear—not without going through several steps on the internet.
End geographical restrictions.
I hate the highlighting on my Kindle, and haven’t been able to find a way to turn it off. Is that possible?
Overquoted said on 02.13.11 at 03:33 PM • [link]
Get rid of DRM. In the meantime, for those of you who already have Calibre, there is a plug-in that can remove the DRM from some formats. I just don’t know what it’s called (it was mentioned in passing).
From ebook Readers…I have an older one, the PRS-505. Stop with the crappy buttons. Make them easy to press. I’m thinking about getting a new e-ink device, any suggestions? (No Kindles or backlit/touchscreen ones, please.)
I’ll also echo a few other commenters about OS/folder structures. A friend has a diff Sony and it’s just as bad in those regards.
Personally, I’d love to have a rent-a-book or swap feature. I understand the industry’s freak out over the idea, but really. If I buy a book that I hate with a passion (and I’ve had a few wallbangers before), I’d like to be able to trade it. If they’re going to charge me paperback price, I should be able to resell it like one. And if it’s just about controlling supply, why not offer a partial-credit program. That is really the only justification I could see for DRM. As it stands, I just crack the DRM on whatever I buy because I absolutely refuse to let a corporation dictate what devices I can read or watch bought content on. *kicks Amazon Unbox for being anti-PS3 and anti-Android*
gina smith said on 02.13.11 at 03:43 PM • [link]
I love my Kindle but I do not think it is the proper device to read non fiction for me. If I were in charge of the world :) I would like to see a “pairing” price for nonfiction so that I could have the choice to buy a “hard copy” and a digital copy at maybe a reduced price. This way if I am waiting somewhere and feel like browsing a health book I could but would have the hard copy at home to look at the features a nonfiction book has but is difficult to really see on the Kindle.
Also, I am kind of insulted in how the prices are continuing to increase. I feel that there should be a price break at least for not killing all the trees. And… how about humoring me once in a while with a “sale” on digital books like they have in the bookstores.
thanks again - wish I lived closer to Chicago this sounds like fun!
Amitatuq said on 02.13.11 at 04:12 PM • [link]
What everyone else just said about DRM!
And organization! I would love to be able to group my books the way I want to, not just based on Title, Author, or how recently I downloaded/read it.
And as for customer service…I’ll try not to make this too long. I have a Nook. Bought one about a year and a half ago? It was awesome! And then the screen stopped working. Literally I had been reading it, went to sleep, and when I woke up it was like the screen saver image was burned on to the screen and wouldn’t go away. So I called customer service, who were very polite and helpful-sounding. They said it sounded like it needed to be replaced and I could send it in and they’d send me a replacement. Thus began my month of trying to get them to e-mail me a return label, talking to multiple CS reps who always answer, “My name is So and So and I can help you,” while I think to myself, “No you can’t.”
Finally I got the label and got it sent out. Then I didn’t hear back from them. So I call again. “Oh, our technicians have determined that you caused the damage so we’re sending it back to you.” Um, what? I explained that I disagreed, she said she’d put a note in for them to look into that and that I should hear back from them soon. I didn’t. So I called again. And again. Each time feeling like I’d gotten the run around. Eventually I decided to send an e-mail and got a snotty reply that they’d replace it as a “one-time courtesy.” Which ticked me off but, hey, I was getting a new Nook.
It arrived and it looked beautiful and it had all my books. I noticed a faint line running through the screen but told myself I was just imagining it and just being paranoid. Every once in a while it would get worse and so I would power everything off and then back on. It seemed to help a little bit. Then it didn’t and the thin line turned to multiple box-shapes of lines in one corner of the screen. That won’t go away. And my impression of the e-mail I go from them was that I was pretty much on my own so I just didn’t bother trying to get that one replaced. That happened back in September and I just read on my iPhone Nook app. But I do plan to gather all my documentation, account info, and give it to a friend of mine and sic her on them. She’s much more assertive than me and more technically minded. I almost feel sorry for them… :-D
Verification: people12 I’m sure I’ve talked to more than 12 CS reps…
Merrian said on 02.13.11 at 04:16 PM • [link]
1. Get rid of geographical restrictions
2. Universal format for ease of reading across multiple devices
3. No DRM
4. Search function that allows you to for example, search on meta data or by genre
5. Able ot make basic notes such as whether a book has been read (once you pass 200 books on your e-reader an alphabetical search is meaningless)
Carolyn said on 02.13.11 at 04:22 PM • [link]
I have Kindle for PC on my computer. It’s real purty, with all the colorful book covers and I love the little guy reading under a tree.
I have 476 books in the damn thing and no way to organize them. I’m an old fart; I’m technologically challenged and on top of that, sometimes I can’t remember title or author. Sometimes all I remember is a scene or a vague storyline. It would be nice to be able to organize my books somehow so that I wouldn’t have to look through 476 of them for the one I might be wanting. Broad catagories, like paranormal or contemporary would be helpful and cut down the frustration. Even with paper, I’m bad about buying a book twice!
I downloaded Caliber and then realized I couldn’t read my books on it because they’re DRM’d. Bah!! Down with DRM!! And, of course, Geo restrictions.
Maybe I could use Caliber to organize the books, but that adds an extra step or two and ... why should I have to? It should be part of the deal. Lord, if I should ever get to the 3500 limit ...
Carin said on 02.13.11 at 04:49 PM • [link]
1. DRM
2. Universal format
3. way to read back cover blurb or something to remind me what the book is about.
4. ability to see the same cover the physical book has. (I know this one isn’t an issue for everyone, but heck, I paid full price for the ebook version of The Perfect Play. I opened it to read and the “cover” was text only. Fail.)
5. a way to organize my books - I’m actually pretty happy with my Sony in this regard. I make folders (TBR, historical, paranormal, best, etc) and then drop a copy of the book in every appropriate folder. I’d be lost without the ability to do this.
6. response time - this is an issue with my Sony. When I unplug it from the computer after syncing, I have to walk away and come back later. That’s how long it takes to turn on and go to the home page. And when I’m in a book and press the button to get to the home screen, it routinely takes 10 seconds to get there. AND if I press any other buttons during that 10 seconds, it tries to do all of those functions in the order they were pressed. UGH. I’ve learned to work around it because I love my Sony, but oh, for a timely response to a button pressed.
7. better formatting of books. I
do not want to rea
d my books in so
me sort of poetry format
where line breaks come unexp
ectedly because some publi
sher was too cheap to take th
e time to actually format a bo
ok before putting it for sale
.
Lisa J said on 02.13.11 at 05:22 PM • [link]
I’m with the rest of the crowd - NO DRM! Sorry for yelling, but it sucks.
Also, one format one be awesome.
donna ann said on 02.13.11 at 05:32 PM • [link]
glad to see I’m not the only one that hates the proprietary rights. one of the reasons i’ve held off on getting an ereader is i hate the idea of being limited as to where I can or can’t buy books (or go through hopes to make purchase from a work on product b but maybe not w/ same functionallity/features). Also the lack of true ownership of the e-book purchase (if i truly owned it I could lend or give it to my sister to read) they cost the same as a physical book (but do cost less to reproduce - I work for a co that pruduces a sfw product so I know this - but I don’t even get te same rights as I would for the paper version. So for now I’ll stick to paper.
Mary said on 02.13.11 at 05:44 PM • [link]
Carolyn, I created collections to help sort my books on my Kindle3. This way the collections are on the home page and you can then narrow down the books from there (mystery, romance, JD Robb, whatever collections you want to make).
It can be klunky when adding books to a collection, as they can be added to more than one and it doesn’t tell you if you have added it or not from the Add/Remove screen, but it’s better than scrolling through 476 books at a time :)
As far as reader input - ditto what everyone else said - I hate how i can only see title & author (I need blurbs, I need pictures lol) and I need a better way to catalog my books (I will get to the limit one of these days and it’s only going to get harder to find them).
I would love to see a universal format, as well, although frankly I don’t mind it as much as many others since the majority of my books were in PDF format before on my laptop and if I can’t find what I want at Amazon, I get it elsewhere and just email it to convert it to my Kindle.
SarahW said on 02.13.11 at 05:58 PM • [link]
I think customer service is important, but not everything. I have had a Sony 505 for 3 years and never had a major problem with it until I dropped it and broke it. I replaced it with a Kindle 3 and have had to call customer service twice in the past three months of owning it. They fixed the issues right away at Amazon, but the one major issue was something they had known about but hadn’t done anything to fix. Arg. On the kindle I’d really like the power button to be at the top and I kind of hate that the numbers are in a submenu when you need them to navigate your book.
Beyond these annoyances, my biggest pet peeve has to do with issues I face trying to help other people with their readers. I work in a library and we get a lot of questions from people about their readers, and not just about how to get library books onto them. Many of these people were given a reader for a gift and are not technologically savy, heck many of them don’t even have a computer at home. When it is my device I usually can figure out what the issue is given enough tine, but with a library patron’s device I don’t feel comfortable messing around until I get it right. For instance, I had a patron come in with continuing issues getting an Overdrive book transferred to her nook, and she had no idea how to delete books from the nook. I know when I got my kindle and my dad’s kindle they had very little in the way of a users guide. I wish that the industry understood that many of their devices are being used by not tech savy people, and that they could provide instructions at a level that seniors and computer illiterate could understand. These instructions need to be included with the device, because not everyone has the ability to go online and look up issues. I know many seniors come in and have received a reader for Christmas, but have never been able to get it to work, not because it is broken, but because the instructions assume a certain amount of knowledge and that a person owns and can run a computer.
Darlene Marshall said on 02.13.11 at 05:59 PM • [link]
Put me down for a vote for universal format. We seem to be moving in that direction with ePub, but not fast enough to suit me as a reader or an author.
blodeuedd said on 02.13.11 at 06:02 PM • [link]
Ok one thing that really annoys me…on some the screen goes dark when you turn the page, oh I hate it
ev said on 02.13.11 at 06:03 PM • [link]
I’m with everyone else on the DRM and geo rights.
I love my Sony. I still have my 700 but got a 350 because I do like the screen better. I’ve played with all the ereaders I could find and stayed with the Sony. However, I really wish I could put more formats on it. I do like how I can make folders and drop my books in them making it easier for me to find them.
I don’t care if I have wireless. Now with the phone app on my droid, I can go to the store and buy or browse and put things on my wish list and download them when I hook up to the laptop. Which has taken care of one complaint I did have- if I was looking at the store, but not on a computer with the program, I couldn’t sign in and save books to my wishlist.
I also have the Kindle and Nook apps on my phone- just in case.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the publisher’s at TOC actually listened to you guys about what the consumer wants and not what they want us to have??
Claire C said on 02.13.11 at 06:06 PM • [link]
I hate geographical restrictions - they are a joke and amazon don’t even check if I tell them I’ve moved to the states, by all the books I want, then move back to the uk.
I’d also love it if I could organise my books on my kindle better. I have lots of collections on my home page but would like to break each collection down into different authors etc, it can be difficult finding the book I want sometimes.
It would be great if you could read the back blurb for the books known and the samples I’ve got and I wish I wasn’t tied to amazon for buying books (even though i would probably but over 90% of my books from there anyway, I hate not having a choice)
Rose D. said on 02.13.11 at 06:11 PM • [link]
I am on my 2nd Sony E-Reader (upgraded to a touch and sold my friend my previous edition). ANyway, there are a few changes I would liek to see and I feel the Sony Facebook website ignores its customs.
1. Coupons where the reader can choose what they want. Not a coupon for 30% off the 8 titles they select.
2. Second and more important, I would like more flexinility in organizing my Sony library. I would like to be able to sort by categories I set up - Romance, free crap, biography, etc. I would also liek to be able to mark what I read and what it TBR.
3. I would like to be able to share books with a friend.
Thanks for asking us!
Tamara Hogan said on 02.13.11 at 06:23 PM • [link]
Anna the Piper said:
This is a significant concern for me as well, Anna the Piper. Despite firewalls, malware prevention and spybot protection up the wazoo, I recently picked up a virus that hijacks my browser and causes unanticipated spontaneous reboots. (Screw you, Yahoo.) I currently can’t get to the internet from that computer, and I’m not at all confident that my digital book and music files haven’t been corrupted or damaged by the reboots. I’m preparing to scratch the damn thing, to wipe and reformat the hard drive (vendor Dell), reinstall the OS (vendor Microsoft), reinstall the browsers (vendors Microsoft and Mozilla), reinstall all of my programs (Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, etc. etc. etc. etc., hoping to hell I have accurate records of all the accounts and licenses and passwords so I CAN reinstall them). THEN I have to play Musical File Structure, copying my gigabytes of data files from backup to the right place in the program’s subdirectory structure, hoping I can still access them.
Right now I count four or five vendor layers - minimum - and many, many hours of work before I can even dream of firing up Adobe Digital Editions to read one of my e-books. Entertainment shouldn’t take this much effort. I think I’ll grab the latest J.D. Robb from my bookshelf and crawl in the bathtub instead.
Katie said on 02.13.11 at 06:33 PM • [link]
This isn’t about the Sony reader so much as it’s about the Sony reader program—PLEASE CHANGE IT. IT’S TERRIBLE. I can’t resize it, so my dock always blocks the view of it. It’s awkward to navigate and just useless. Calibre is infinitely superior. Sony, please, fix your program.
Vicki said on 02.13.11 at 07:07 PM • [link]
Geographical restrictions, DRM, universal format.
I recently moved house, and bought an ebook on my desktop pc, totally forgetting that I usually use my laptop to download to and transfer to my Bebook. Long story short, thanks to Adobe Digital Editions, I can no longer read the book that I paid for, on any computer or device, nor can I access my old library on that computer. This DRM crap only makes illegal downloading more and more appealing.
Joani S said on 02.13.11 at 07:25 PM • [link]
I also agree with the other comments about no DRM. I also agree with making some sort of sub catagories, I’d like to organize my books more on my K3, allowing me to make some sub-genre’s, also marking more easily a book read, also being able to mark it if I liked or disliked it, I do like to re-read books, if it’s a thumbs up book, I’d like to see it on the screen maybe with some marking that I really want to come back to it, or read others in the series, or look for future books by said writer. Reading the blurbs. I think I might like the option of a back lit screen, one I can turn off and on at will, I read a lot at night, and yes, I have a clip on light, but I think it would be easier to me if I had the option to make the screen back lit if I so desired. I know the battery drain, but if I only used it when I needed it, it wouldn’t be so bad. I would love to buy a book I see on sale at borders, or B&N in ebook form and be able to put it directly into my kindle. I do have Calibre, but I don’t think I should have to spend so much time on my laptop moving books around and re-formatting them. I would also like to move things around a little easier directly on my kindle, not just the options to move to this catogory or delete, am I asking too much? I know I’ll probably think of some more, but I’ll stop ranting for now. Thanks!!
Joani S said on 02.13.11 at 07:32 PM • [link]
Oh, I did think of something else. Like the above comment, sharing books. The price of ebooks can be so high, with my paper copies, if there are some I no longer want, I sell to the used books store and get more books, if there is an ebook I don’t want, didn’t like, I should be able to either sell, or give back for a credit. If I’m paying the same for an ebook that I would for a paper copy (or more!!), I’d like the option to do something with said book! I loan my paper copies to my friends all the time, they are really sad that I got a K3, now they can no longer “borrow” my new release books.
Lovecow2000 said on 02.13.11 at 07:40 PM • [link]
Better copy editting please… It seems to me that there are more typos in the ebooks i read than a regular book. Also, please figure out how to use special characters like “quotation marks” without during them into ?question marks? or other meaningless punctuation.
DRM sucks, and I should have ownership rights to the file.
Pricing is peculiar and unfair. Why should I be punished for choosing a more convenient format. I read so many books and buy so many more now than before I began e-reading that I can’t believe publishers and online booksellers are loosing money on my purchases.
MariDonne said on 02.13.11 at 07:44 PM • [link]
I love my Kindle, but can’t use it to read books I borrow from the library or buy in DRM format. (I must check into Calibre; I’m new to trying to read DRM formatted books and struggling with the fact that some programs don’t work with my MAC.) I just switched to an Android phone, and that makes it easier to take DRM books with me, but there’s no denying the screen is much smaller and the battery life shorter than on the Kindle.
The biggest plus in reading on the Android is that I can download library books right onto the phone. Even without my Kindle, I am never without something to read, so If I want to stick my wallet in one pocket and my phone in the other I can travel without a purse and still have access, thus reaching a goal I set in childhood of not having to schlep lots of stuff around and still have a book available at all times.
Kindle needs more options, especially in navigation, with its best features being the screen size and battery life.
As many have said, a universal format that worked on all devices would be great, but probably not likely with Amazon and other providers trying to hang on to market share.
I also listen to audio books, and like being able to do so on my Kindle. The Blackberry app for Audible I tried to use before I got my Kindle was horrible and worse than useless, because it would stop playing halfway through a chapter and refuse to start again. The Android app is much better, but the problem again there is battery life.
MsCrankyPants said on 02.13.11 at 07:46 PM • [link]
No DRM.
Need universal format to easier switch between devices if they won’t get rid of DRM.
Ebook prices need to come back down.
My Nook(s) finally have good organization with the custom Shelves. I have TBR, Favorites, Read, Contemp Romance, Historical Romance, Mystery, Pre-Orders. Very nice on the NookColor.
The NookColor allows me to read book blurbs and customer reviews. Easy. Big plus for B&N there. Big minus on some of their book prices forcing me to shop a book. They aren’t the only one with price issues. I’ve noticed it with ALL the bookstores.
I can use any ebook I’ve bought on any of my readers (nook, nook color, iDevices, or kindle) due to Calibre plugins. Strip the DRM and change the format. Universal format would eliminate that. I use my NookColor the most due to ease of use of use. Love the dictionary. Touch a word while reading and the definition pops up. Easier than kindle or nook or PC.
No DRM.
Better customer service.
Get rid of Adobe.
Ahlison said on 02.13.11 at 07:47 PM • [link]
1. Geographical restrictions (which only lead to illegal copying)
2. Price increases where it is cheaper to buy dead tree than e
3. Carin’s poetry formatting!
Like Jenn I have an old, expensive Sony PRS700 and while I am tempted to buy a newer Sony with an easier to read screen it seemed like the black flicker when changing pages might drive me nuts. Am not at all tempted to move to the Kindle - I like the purchasing flexibility of the Sony - however I worry that I might find myself in a bluRay versus HD or beta vs VHS situation. I use Calibre to organize my collection and make groups to facilitate finding my books. The Sony software is terrible and as there doesn’t seem to be much proofreading in the metadata from the Sony Store, I often have to go in and correct the tombstone data. As mentioned, the Sony is dead slow after adding books, and even now sometimes I think that it has gone into some e-reader version of the blue screen of death.
I love the additional external storage on the Sony - extra backup, and have never had to contact tech support for my Sony. Their reliability is what would keep me with Sony if I upgrade.
Karen H said on 02.13.11 at 07:55 PM • [link]
I’ve had a Kindle 3 almost 6 months and am generally happy with it. But I agree with a previous commenter that I would much rather have page numbers than “locations.” I sort of understand from a computer-standpoint why they use locations but it’s just not how books are organized and it feels clunky.
Also, the hardest thing for me to get used to was the buttons since I wanted to use the right-hand button to go forward and the left-hand button to go back. The funny thing was that when I got my Android phone and put the Kindle program on, that’s exactly how it works—I touch the right side of the screen to go forward and the left side to go back. I understand that if I was left-handed, I’d appreciate the Kindle buttons but maybe they could make them programmable so that users could make them work as they wished.
I wish there was a single format since I am a big library user and I bought the Kindle knowing I wouldn’t be able to take advantage of their ebooks. But Amazon does have a good selection of free classics I never got around to reading (I just finished “Ivanhoe” Friday night on the way home) so I still have plenty to read on my commute.
I, too, miss the ability to look at the back cover blurb.
For commenters who asked, I have made a Collection named “Read” and I move books there when I have read them. I do wish, however, that I could move those books out of the Collections they were in originally when I move them to “Read.”
meganhwa said on 02.13.11 at 07:58 PM • [link]
so if you want to remove DRM in calibre you can use this toolkit
http://apprenticealf.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/ebooks-formats-drm-and-you-—-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/
it’s purpose is to remove DRM so you can read in calibre and if you want you can change the format too. you do still need the other programs to initially open up/download the DRM file.
so I had a pdf book (i could only buy the pdf version and not epub cos of teritorial rights) and i find pdfs on the kobo are a little annoying cos if you need larger print you need to scroll - which involves excess page turning. so i used callibre to change it to an epub format and it was so much better. the only downside was that calibre couldn’t detect the page number and headers and incorporated it into the book text which is a little disrupting but at least i only have to press one button to turn a page.
so this is a prime example of why DRM and teritorial laws are such a pain and really need to be streamed.
as many have mentioned DRM makes illegal downloads more appealling and publishers (or whoever makes these discisions) should be learning from the music industry that this is not the way to go.
I want to BUY the ebooks. I’m not looking for illegal downloads - I am happy to part monies because I think the authors and editors and everyone else in the process should be paid for their hard work but I want it to be an easy process, an available process (from Aus we dun get much out that way) and be able to buy from different shops rather than be holed into a monopoly of one or two bookstores depending on my reading device/how many reader programs i can have on my computer.
I also agree with those who want access to blurbs - that would make life so much easier especially since one day i would love to own millions of books and blurbs would be a great reminder.
Also a TBR folder would be great - to distinguish from the multitude of books that are just on my kobo and i can’t be bothered to remove. Or if you need to reload the books they all become “unread” again so I have to remember which books I have read - again blurbs would help with that.
C hillip said on 02.13.11 at 08:04 PM • [link]
I am a Voracious Reader: new books, used books, swapped books, library books, K3 books, iThing books. I was in alt when my local library offered OverDrive software, then totally bummed when I realized that amazon and apple platforms don’t support OverDrive. What I want to shout out is: Library patrons are prodigious Book Buyers; borrowing and buying books are Mutually INclusive. Eradicate the erroneous idea that owners of eReaders will never buy ebooks if they are available through our public libraries!!! So often we borrow a library book and then decide to buy it.
PS add my voice to the anti-DRM bandwidth.
Linda said on 02.13.11 at 08:10 PM • [link]
I have a Kindle and a Sony. I love them both, but I wish I could mate them and come up with the perfect ereader. I want a reader with the elegance and attractiveness of the Sony, the touchscreen and backlight of the Sony, but the wireless capabilities and sunlight-readable screen of the Kindle.
Dena said on 02.13.11 at 08:11 PM • [link]
I just spent the last week trying out the Nook, the Kobo, the Sony PRS-300, and the Kindle 2 and 3. I came to pretty much the same conclusion as the rest of you about DRM, Organization, Format, and page numbers on the Kindle.
I also have one pie-in-the-sky hardware wish: I find reading a social experience. I talk about what I read, and when I’m in public I like seeing what people are reading and have them see what book I’m reading (except if it’s something embarrassingly smutty). Conversations have been started on planes and in waiting rooms based on the book in my hand. I’ve read books because I’ve seen other people reading them on park benches. I find that ereaders lose that “social networking” aspect of books with the loss of a public unique cover for each book. This is what I want on my ideal reader: The back cover should be a colour screen (covered with something like plastic for protection) on which you can, at your own discretion, have an image of the cover of the book that you’re currently reading. That way you can show off your highbrow tastes on the subway, or your ironic lowbrow tastes in your favourite hipster coffee shop. Or just reconnect with the non-virtual world of people who might be interested in what you are interested in. It’s like Foursquare for books, just in the real world!
TaraL said on 02.13.11 at 08:15 PM • [link]
Definitely agree with: no DRM, no geographical restrictions, and better organization, both on the device and in the online library of purchases (including a read/ TBR designation). But the issues that are a daily (sometimes hourly) irritant to me are:
1. Bad editing/formatting, which I suspect is linked to the need for a universal format. Pick one and learn how to make it work correctly so an ebook reads like a book, not some grade-schoolers keyboarding exercise. I have a Kindle, so I read mostly books in the Amazon format, but I’ve bought several other formats (when I can find them without DRM) and converted them with Calibre, and they all suck. Some have spon taneous gaps in the mid dle of words at the rate of about one per page. Others suddenly have no indents for half a page, which can make it tough to follow who’s talking if it happens during a big chunk of dialogue. And even the best of them can’t handle a simple em-dash. I haven’t found one yet that wraps correctly (meaning without a big gap).
2. Pricing. Sorry, I know no one wants to say it, but an ebook is an inferior product and should have a lower price. Period. If I buy a paperback, even if I don’t like it, it has some resale value at the UBS. Or if I’m running out of shelf space, I can donate books I like to the library so that I can read them again in the future. Or I can loan it to a friend (or several friends) when I find a new author I think they’ll like, or when they’re just strapped for cash. I can’t do that with an ebook. Hell, when I spill something on it and stick the pages together, or the baby gums the corner off of it when she’s teething, I can still use it to start a campfire or level out a table with a broken leg. And some of those giant hardcover books make a great booster seat for unexpected guest toddlers. Paper books have a ton of worth, ebooks do not. You’ve taken a Mercedes, stripped off all the goodies and turned it into a Yugo with no resale value and no value other than a few hours of enjoyment for me. I can’t pass it on and extend my enjoyment by discussing it with others, or helping my small-town library, or any of the other things I can do with a paper book. Don’t expect me to pay full price for it. I haven’t yet and don’t believe I ever will. If the ebook costs the same as the paperback, I buy the paper.
Ashley said on 02.13.11 at 08:17 PM • [link]
Quick vote for better organization—would like hierarchical file system or system of multiple tags (or both, choose your own adventure!) Otherwise love my Kindle 3.
I think the other stuff (pricing, DRM, availability) entangles more than just the device manufacturers.
MarketingLackey said on 02.13.11 at 08:18 PM • [link]
Hear hear on universal formatting!
Also:
Adobe Digital Editions is the most craptastic software ever inflicted on the public at large.
How about including the back cover in the file? I don’t think that’s too much to ask.
Filing system in iBooks is the win. No file sorting for Kindle is the suck.
Best idea ever? Instant purchase via amazon.com and built in WiFi for the Kindle device. Kudos for cross-platform integration - you’ve made a fortune off me with impulse buys.
kkw said on 02.13.11 at 09:02 PM • [link]
I agree with most of the comments. Formatting, price, availability. I’ve never bought an ebook, and I don’t know that I ever will, certainly not until I really own it - can lend it or donate it to the library like a paperback (why, oh why can’t we donate ebooks to the library?). I am so not tech savvy, and at first there was some problem with my mac not liking my nook, adobe digital editions wouldn’t work…I’ve blocked the memory because it was such a nightmare, but while the details were still fresh, for weeks I couldn’t even look at my nook I was so angry. (Can you feel the first world pain?) The customer service people were all very nice but shockingly useless. No one at Barnes and Noble stores, on their customer service line, or at the library was able to help, although they all spent hours trying to, so yeah, a user manual would be nice, if not for the consumer at least for the professionals. Anyway, the one thing I would change about the actual device - I want voice command. Possibly (probably) I’m just the laziest person imaginable, but as long as we’re living in the future and reading virtual books, why do I still have to turn the page?
Ridley said on 02.13.11 at 09:09 PM • [link]
I’d like publishers and device manufacturers/designers to keep in mind how appealing ebooks are to physically disabled readers.
I read on a Sony because page turning buttons and my hands are not friends. The touchscreen eink gives me the best of both worlds. I get the paper-like display as well as liberation from hard-to-click page turn buttons. But it’s still far from perfect. Those little, metal menu buttons? The slidey on-off button? Yeah, they’re not my friends. I have to use my knuckle for the former and give the hubs the sad eyes to tackle the latter.
Bigger buttons, less click resistance, better grips on sliders - legions of readers with poor manual dexterity would scream their thanks.
For publishers - drop the Agency bullshit already. I can’t read paper and I can’t afford Agency ebook prices. That means I haven’t been reading your books. Since April 1 of last year, I have bought exactly 5 Agency pubbed books, and they were all from Penguin, who at least marks their ebooks lower than their paper books. I used to buy 4 books a week. You’re not pushing us to buy hardbacks, you’re pushing us to watch TV, like we did before ebooks.
SonomaLass said on 02.13.11 at 09:13 PM • [link]
What both SarahW and SBSarah said about steep learning curve. My mom bought Kobo, found out that it wasn’t compatible with her computer, replaced it with a Kindle, but after the initial excitement, she hasn’t used it much at all. The browsing/recommending functions don’t work well for her, and it’s too much trouble to get help when she can’t figure out how to do something. Not to mention the price issue, which isn’t really a device/platform issue.
Unified format, no DRM or geo restrictions, lower prices for books on which I’m giving up my first sale rights—none of that is device or platform either, I guess, but frankly I won’t be comparing devices and shopping for a dedicated reader until those issues are resolved.
Also, I want a pony.
Erica Anderson said on 02.13.11 at 09:21 PM • [link]
Hierarchical file organization. I have a nook. Love it. But hate the two separate libraries (B&N books vs. other books) and hate inability to organize files.
Min said on 02.13.11 at 09:33 PM • [link]
@C hillip. Yes, that. Support proper library models, instead of excluding them deliberately.
Anna the Piper said on 02.13.11 at 09:38 PM • [link]
@Erica Anderson: YES! THIS!
The shiny new shelves feature on the nook is pretty much useless to me since it means I have to make two different sets of shelves for the B&N books and the non-B&N books. And I have just as many of the latter as I do the former, since I have a whole hell of a lot of books bought from Fictionwise, as well as several titles bought directly from Carina Press, my own Drollerie Press, and other independent locations. (I like to buy straight from publishers who make a point of selling without DRM, doncha know.)
Keri Ford said on 02.13.11 at 10:11 PM • [link]
Leave a review!
when I finish a book, I’d love to be able to click a link right then that says “what do you think? Leave a review!” and be able to type my quick thoughts in right then, pick stars and say okay and auotomatically have it loaded up to the reviews section at Amazon (from the kindle, clearly), to BN (from the nook, of course) ect ect ect…and if they could hook into Goodreads—just as great!
Carahe said on 02.13.11 at 10:16 PM • [link]
(specifically regarding the nook, which I mostly love)
FILE ORGANIZATION!
(this is the most muchly important)
File organization with password-protection capabilities, so I can let my mother read a nice cozy mystery on my device to test if she would like a device without risking giving her a heart attack by seeing just what sort of dirty books I also read.
Tell me the number of pages in the book I am considering buying. Not just the damn file size, which means next to nothing to me. Actually, just give me all the info I would have had if I bought the paper version of the book from the online store.
Allow me to search by publisher while shopping.
Include a “buy more from this author” link in the menu for the book that I’ve already purchased. I would probably buy 3 times the # of same-author books (like I do in the brick and mortar store) if I could auto-search for the same author without having to remember whatever multi-vowel arbitrary spelling the author has chosen for their nom de plume.
Nessa said on 02.13.11 at 10:46 PM • [link]
Claire C said…
I tried changing my location with the sony reader store and totally messed up my mom’s software. (It wouldn’t recognise her old uk bought books thereafter.) While the crappy customer service sony offered - no replies, different rep every time we called, no constructive advice for nearly a week - convinced me to buy a K3, I’ve been too scared to try changing my location with amazon and buy the books I so badly want to.
Good to know it works with amazon. ::thumbsup::
Wendy said on 02.13.11 at 10:54 PM • [link]
I’m probably just going to repeat what everyone else has said, but a chorus is a chorus, right?
- one format! I read on my iPhone, and currently have four or five different reader apps, depending on where I bought a book, and what format it’s in, and then an entirely separate app for borrowed library books.
- Hierarchical filing system! If you have any number of books on your phone, it’s nice to be able to sort the ones you’ve read from the once you haven’t yet, alphabetically by title, by author, or by genre, etc.
- get rid of DRM and geographical limitations.
security word: perhaps87 - perhaps 87 more voices in the chorus will help!
Khenta said on 02.13.11 at 11:08 PM • [link]
My biggest peeve are geographical restrictions - why can I buy a print book that has to be shipped all the way to Germany, but not the ebook? And I hate it that some stuff is *only* available as an ebook that nobody wants to sell to me - do the PTB really not realize that they aren’t making money that way?
Second is pricing - I’m surely not paying the same for an overblown computer file as for an hardcover copy. This has been adressed by others already (sharing books, reselling etc).
I haven’t had too many negative experiences with DRMed books, but then, I buy mostly non-DRM stuff at the moment.
Format has been no big concern so far. I’m happy with my Trekstor ebook reader that can display both pdf and epub (and play MP3s, too), so if it’s available in any of the 2 formats, I’m game.
soccermom124 said on 02.13.11 at 11:33 PM • [link]
I have a KOBO and have had a lot of trouble with books that I have bought, but haven’t even read yet, being “locked”. I bought and paid for it, it should NEVER lock. I can read a paperback as many times as I want, why not e-books? CS at KOBO and Adobe were NO help.
The KOBO lets me read pdf, but if I don’t want to scroll left and right for every line, I have to use a magnifying glass to read pdf documents. You can make the font larger (and it is still small) but instead of fitting the document to the screen, you have to scroll left and right on EVERY line!
So, add my vote to universal format that you can buy at ANY online store that sells ebooks, and that will work on any ereader AND
NO DRM!
avrelia said on 02.14.11 at 12:12 AM • [link]
I want to be able to read Cyrillic characters (Russian language in my case) without having to break the e-reader or buy it in Russia. I am sure that many reader of non-Latin based alphabets would agree.
Chelsea said on 02.14.11 at 12:46 AM • [link]
UNIVERSAL FORMAT. please.
I just got my Kindle not long ago, and I love it. But the Kindle Storefront is pretty sloppy in its organization. I’d like to see a really organized system where all the categories have subcategories and tags and so forth, so that if what im looking for is paranormal romance with dragons and fairies, or whatever, I can click my way there with less hastle. After all, if you make it easy for me to find what I want, I’m likely to buy it.
library addict said on 02.14.11 at 01:26 AM • [link]
Grr. Typed my whole response and it disappeared. Looking on the bright side, maybe I can be more coherent this time.
I have a Sony 650 which I love. I think wifi and 3G can be a selling feature, but people should realize it’s really not important to everyone and some of us actually prefer NOT to have it.
I agree 100% about good customer service.
All Romance eBooks has great customer service. They have a lousy search feature and their website is not as good as it could be, but I love to shop there because I know if I have an issue it will be promptly taken care of.
I also frequently shop at the Sony Reader store, but have never had any problems with them, so no clue if they have good customer service or not.
Kobo is another matter. I love Kobo’s coupons, but their customer service is horrible! And often I have to send 2 or 3 emails before I get a response. Which is usually that they will do A and have escalated the problem to tier 2 or something like that. Weeks go by, you email them again, wait and they often respond stating they can’t do A (as told they would initially). It’s been over a month since I was promised a refund on one book that was the wrong book and I am still waiting…
I have not purchased any Kindle books, but Amazon’s customer service is usually very good. I’ve had a few problems with them over the years, but overall I would rank them pretty high is customer satisfaction.
And Borders is sometimes slow to respond about eBook issues, but overall I’ve found them to have good customer service. I will truly miss them if they go out of business.
I would also love a universal format and to see the end of DRM, agency pricing, and geographical restrictions, but I’m not holding my breath.
Lizabeth S. Tucker said on 02.14.11 at 02:01 AM • [link]
I’m an eReader fiend. Although I’ve only owned Sony eReaders (PRS-500, 505 and 600), I’ve had the pleasure to play with and put their their paces some of the other major players, from Kobo to Kindle to Libris to Nook to Pandigital and more.
I’m too much of a bookaholic to want wifi, so that isn’t important to me. I don’t mind downloading through my computer.
Pandigital has had lots of problems and their support appears to be by the book, literally reading from it. They are with Barnes & Noble for their books, but even the BN employees don’t seem to realize that. I know of one Pandigital owner who was told they wouldn’t be able to buy everything in the company’s inventory because they didn’t buy a Nook.
Kobo bothers me due to the inability to turn it off. I have to allow the sleep function to work instead.
Kindle’s keyboard is right where I like to hold my eReader. I have small hands who don’t really like to hold the device from the side.
What I do want is ease of use (without having to drag out the instruction booklet all the time), ability to buy from whoever I want (sorry, Kindle, Pandigital and Nook), and customer service that is responsive, knowledgable, and an accent I can understand.
Sony has a few issues and tweaks that could still be done, but at least when I have a problem, I have options to contact them and get an answer, from email to live chat to Twitter.
Laura said on 02.14.11 at 02:04 AM • [link]
I read on the Kindle and my only complaint is that it doesn’t have page numbers. I don’t really understand what the “locations” are. This makes it very difficult to jump to different parts of the book, or if you’re a student like me, hard to use digital books in class discussions and projects.
Kelly Bishop said on 02.14.11 at 02:27 AM • [link]
I’ve owned my Kindle 2 for about 2 years now. In that time only ONCE, ONCE have I gotten a message from Amazon that an ebook I’ve purchased has been updated. I’ve bought some books (published by the big NY pubs) that have had an incredible number of typos in them but apparently nobody is interested in fixing them.
The one that really frosted me is I bought the In Death ebook where Dallas & Roarke get married at the end. I’d already read it before so I was able to spot a major goof. On the very next line after what should have been the last sentence of the book, it continues on with several pages from the first chapter of the NEXT book in the series. It was supposed to be an excerpt but it wasn’t labeled that way. Someone who had not already read the story would be scratching their head wondering why it ends with a cliffhanger.
Sounds like an easy fix, right? Just put in a few carriage returns and add the words “Excerpt from the next novel in this series”. That’s all it would take to fix it. But when I emailed Amazon about it, they said that the publisher was not interested in updating the book at this time, refunded my money and deleted the book from my account. That isn’t what I wanted. I don’t know if they ever fixed it or not. I still don’t get why this is so hard to correct.
So my request would be to start fixing your darn typos!
JenD said on 02.14.11 at 02:32 AM • [link]
Pretty much the same as everyone else-
Stop with the DRM
ONE format
Let me buy what I want, where I want and organize it however I want to.
Bring the costs down to non-hardback prices- I didn’t buy a hardback so I’m not paying the cost of one.
Until these things are met- I refuse to buy an eReader. I can wait- even if it means having four different programs on my laptop.
Melodie said on 02.14.11 at 02:59 AM • [link]
Update the software. Shiny new hardware every year is nice but the software isn’t where it needs to be. Putting the same old epub or mobi on the new hardware isn’t an improvement. (see above comments regarding no organization, no page numbers, poor formatting). I’ve been an e-book devotee from the early days and frankly Microsoft lit format has the current ones beat with all of the above issues. It used folders, had both page numbers and a slider, and was generally better formatted than the current offerings.
Tracy said on 02.14.11 at 04:02 AM • [link]
First of all, I’m a huge fan of my nook. One of the main reasons I purchased the nook over the Kindle was the ability to go right into a Barnes and Noble store and ask them questions if I had any. Plus, I like shopping that way. I just use my iPhone nook app and can download any book that I see on the shelf, frequently at a discount.
Another reason I prefer the nook is the fact that the battery is separate from the unit itself. If the battery ever conks out, you don’t have to send in the whole unit (like a Kindle), just get a new battery. That’s a big deal IMHO.
Two things I would like to see improve: more backlists. They’ve done a pretty good job so far of making sure books are available for the nook, but there have been a few not yet available. I would like to see a way to contact B&N about suggestions for authors or books to put on the nook. (Currently you have to jump through hoops to make suggestions.)
The other is the still elevated cost of some of the books. I’ll use Jasper Fforde as an example. After the discussion the other night regarding his books, I went to B&N.com to price the nook versions, and they’re very expensive, some of the most expensive nook editions I’ve seen thus far. It was a big deterrant so I didn’t purchase it. I just find it exploitative to charge the same as a print book when there is no publishing cost, shipping, stocking, etc. It turned me off of the author/publisher because of that.
Just my 2 cents.
Tracy said on 02.14.11 at 04:14 AM • [link]
Oooh, what a great idea!
LisaJo said on 02.14.11 at 04:38 AM • [link]
I don’t have an e-reader because I love the feel of books (and replacing the 700+ in my library would be VERY costly), though my mom adores her Kindle and says Amazon.com customer service is AMAZING.
BookwormBabe said on 02.14.11 at 05:11 AM • [link]
I have a kindle and love it, but agree with most of the above comments;
1. Universal format is a must,
2. No geographical restrictions (why can I buy the physical book but not download it???)
3. Pricing
4. Back catalogue releases in order eg. Nora Roberts 3 Sisters Trilogy - amazon release books 2 and 3 before book 1 and book 1 had the higher price tag once available.
5. Also it would be good if it was possible on the readers to have a next chapter/jump X pages button like you do on DVD players. If you want to flick back to find something but are not 100% sure where it is, being able to jump a chapter/10 pages at a time would be useful.
6. Page numbers or at least an approximation of number of pages the download will be.
Also, improving the editing in some of the cheaper (likely not print published) titles would be great. The number of times I’ve felt like taking a red pen to my kindle or emailing the author/publisher is ridiculous. We readers appreciate spelling, grammar and even consistent character names!
helen said on 02.14.11 at 05:21 AM • [link]
I love, love love my Nook I love that I can be in bed at midnight finishing up a book and buy the next book in the series right then. I love that I can lend and borrow from friends and from the library.
I would change Geo restrictions, drm and make sure there was some kind of universal formatting (as most everyone else on here has mentioned).
Also, I would make more bundles at lower prices available particularly for authors who have an extensive backlist that stretches back years (for example Deanna Raybourne’s series is a great one that I managed to get bundled for only 9.99-more like this please!)
I don’t want to pay full price for a book I have owned in PB format for 10 years, yet I’d like to stock my Nook with my favorite books. For example if they had an option to buy all of the back titles of the In Death series all at once for 100 to 200 bucks I’d do it, but I am not paying 7 dollars each!
Aryn said on 02.14.11 at 05:33 AM • [link]
Yes to the prior comments about DRM.
Recently rec’d a NookColor (I rarely do anything with B&N because of their LOUSY customer service. The device, I’m sure, was given as revenge for some imagined slight or sin):
Had an ECTACO JetBook Light; loved it and lost it.
So: *yes to having the plug in somewhere other than where your hand or tummy is going to be when reading.
* Allow resets and what not from the computer instead of just Wifi (the local B&N does not HAVE wifi and the next nearest is 75 miles away. Really, what were you thinking?)
* Allow for a reversal of the touch pad page turner. Sometimes I’d like to hold my NC in my right hand and turn the pages forward from there. Sometimes, I’d like to use my LEFT hand, but then I still need my right hand to forward pages. (JetBook had three different locations for page turn)
* Allow for standard cables to hook up to computer and recharge. Having a NC specific cable is nuts.
* Allow for the NC to READ WHAT YOU SELL. B&N sells ereader format (.pdb) but the NC doesn’t read it.
* What the rest of you said about pricing, geographical distinctions, and the rest.
Anna the Piper said on 02.14.11 at 05:42 AM • [link]
@Aryn:
Allow for the NC to READ WHAT YOU SELL. B&N sells ereader format (.pdb) but the NC doesn’t read it.
Wait, the Nookcolor doesn’t read PDB?! That’s asinine, for more reasons than one.
Last I checked, if you’re downloading your books right off of B&N’s site as opposed to letting your nook or nookcolor slurp ‘em down, you get PDB IF you’re a Mac user. If you’re coming in on a PC, you get epub.
Which points back to how B&N does not have a proper client for the Mac platform even after many, many months of Mac users bitching about this.
But wow, I had no idea that the color nook doesn’t even read the damn PDB files. They really, REALLY need to fix that.
Meghan said on 02.14.11 at 05:53 AM • [link]
I love my Sony eReader, but HATE the headaches and heartaches in trying to manage it. I have an iMac now, with dual book. I cannot see books purchased when in PC mode when the software is open on the Mac side and vice versa. I cannot organize the thing to save my life, and am trying to figure out if I can save my books to a card, taking them off my reader to use the memory cars as a form of organization. To top it off, when I try to borrow books, my reader sometimes duplicates its contents while simultaneously blocking access to the book I just borrowed. And the stupid Sony software freezes my Mac to the point that hubby has put a temporary moratorium on using the reader. Speed in syncing is a real issue, but almost a minor one now.
And then there are the restrictions…geographical (seriously, if I can drive to the use in 2 hours and buy the book in a store, why can’t I do it in an ebook?) and others. Format and DRM would be more of an issue if I could use my reader right now. And pricing is stupid at times.
I read this and think maybe I need to invest more time in learning to love the Kobo for iPad…
I want to be able to read easily, without spending more than I would for the blasted paperback, borrow/loan books like I do with paper, and organize the whole thing….like I do with paper.
GatorPerson said on 02.14.11 at 05:59 AM • [link]
Amazon should work out contracts with libraries so that we can borrow books that work on our Kindles.
carly m. said on 02.14.11 at 07:25 AM • [link]
things I couldn’t care less about: my ereader having a web browser or music player
things that are essential: having the actual cover instead of the lame text only version
things I would have in an ideal world: ability to create folders/groups on my kindle; being able to search within those folders; real page numbers; overdrive/library books on kindle
things that piss me off: books that are more than 5 years old at full price. I’ve been interested in buying several e-books I borrowed from the library in the last few months, but the trade or full mmpb pricing has kept that from happening.
bookstorecat said on 02.14.11 at 07:44 AM • [link]
You can do this on nookcolor. When inside your book, bring up the book’s tools menu (where you change the text size, etc.), and click the little blue flag to the right of the page number slider thingy. You can star-rate the book, review it, and recommend it to friends on Facebook or Twitter, or through your Contacts list. You can add a star rating on the original nook (View Item Descriptions and Options—>touch the stars).
Also for nookcolor…
If you want to read one-handed, hold the nookcolor with your left (or right) hand and use your thumb to swipe Right to Left wherever your thumb can reach on the page. Even barely flicking the page in a vaguely Right to Left motion will work. Holding the nookcolor in my left hand, I find myself basically swiping across the lower left corner (bottom to top) to turn the page.
If you mean software updates, these are available to download through your computer @ barnesandnoble.com. Your nookcolor can also use any public access wi-fi for web stuff. I have used mine at the library, Starbucks, Panera Bread, McDonalds,the airport, my friend’s house, various Barnes&Nobles;. . .and probably some other places I’ve forgotten about. I take it with me everywhere and use it for books, mags, email, googling and posting comments on my favorite blog (called SMART BITCHES in my internet bookmarks).
elaine said on 02.14.11 at 07:47 AM • [link]
Also, I would love a subscription service for books, à la Netflix. I would gladly pay a monthly fee to “rent” books. I read a lot (4-8 books weekly), and I read mostly physical books. I do use OverDrive with my local library system, but the waitlists are ridiculous. And I’ll gladly pay for my own permanent copy (physical or eBook) if I love the book. But the pricing definitely has to come down before I switch to digital copies only—I’d rather spend my money on a used copy at the bookstore or go to the library—especially for authors not on my automatic buy list.
bookstorecat said on 02.14.11 at 08:14 AM • [link]
Agree. So much:) I haven’t noticed ebooks that cost as much as the physical copy of the book except in a couple of cases with ebooks that were the same price as the mass market paperbacks—which didn’t seem that bad, until you reflect on all the issues others have raised here—limited lendability (even with nook), can’t give a copy to a library or a friend to keep, can’t return it if it wasn’t what you wanted, etc. Ebooks should ALWAYS be cheaper.
On the happy side, I find myself using the library SO much more now that I can just download books for free at home and then take them with me on the nook. No more late fees! No more limited library hours! Yay!
Alexis Harrington said on 02.14.11 at 11:46 AM • [link]
I already got a Kindle a few months ago and love, love it. But for business purposes I also bought a black&white; Nook. Uhhh, not such a love affair, but that’s another story. All of my own books for sale are DRM-free, so I’m doing my part.
What I’d like—and it’s really a quibbling thing—is to have a top or bottom bar on the display window while I’m reading that tells me the name of the book and what time it is. This isn’t stop-the-world stuff. Just a request.
minna said on 02.14.11 at 01:24 PM • [link]
I love, love, love my sony reader but… would like the blurbs on the back of paper books included on the ebooks, would like the tittle of the book to be at the top of the page, sometimes I get a bit flakey and forget which book I’m reading. Also would like an easy way to keep track of what I’ve got, both on paper and as ebooks. The very last thing… a battery warning that says how many pages till flat would be fabulous. The other very last thing, as I live in Australia; I would like to be able to get ebooks from any site, currently I only buy from the Aussie sites and have to wait forever for some books. Well not forever, but a few months.
Kristi said on 02.14.11 at 04:51 PM • [link]
Enough with the Betamax vs VHS (or is it HD-DVD vs Blu ray). Just pick a format and go with it. Everyone will sell more e-readers and more e-books once the reading public quits waiting for all of the format flux to die down.
I want color e-ink. No, a color Nook is not the answer. I sit all day in front of brightly-lit computer screens at work, come home and spend half my free time staring at another brightly-lit computer screen to write. When I settle down to read, my eyes hurt too much to use anything but paper or eink. Bring on the color, already, so that I can get away from the stacks of magazines and kids picture books that are together plotting a coup in my living room.
And don’t forget the stylus. Why is Sony the only one who offers that? I have a Sony, and use that stylus a lot (hello, author, could you please sign my ebook). My old palm pilot used to have one. My kids game systems (a DS and a Leapster) have them. E-reader manufacturers and tablet manufacturers take note. My fingertip is NOT a replacement for a pen (and neither is a keyboard), and YES, I MIGHT WANT TO WRITE IN THAT EBOOK (Ever go to college? Ever take notes in the margins?). There is a reason that humans have been using pointy sticks for millenia.
UAC said on 02.14.11 at 05:59 PM • [link]
Some of these will be concurs to others comments, some my own input…
- Buy the next book link would be awesome.
- No territorial limitations.
- Fix some way to easier study, research, and notetaking.
- Better care when inputting the meta data. Or give me the ability to correct their half-assed job on the device itself. Tired of miss sorts or titles that are mysterious jumbles of letters and numbers.
- Sort by genre, as well as title, author, most recent.
- Book Blurb/Description with cover.
- Lending available to ALL the books I’ve purchased. Publishers don’t control who I lend PB’s to. Why should they meddle with who I lend my digital to.
TaraL said on 02.14.11 at 06:23 PM • [link]
You can do this on the Kindle3 (not sure about previous models) if the book has been formatted with a table of contents denoting the beginning of each chapter. You just use the left/right buttons on the 5-way to jump forward or backward.
Megan said on 02.14.11 at 06:26 PM • [link]
I love nearly everything about my Kindle except for the fact that I cannot reread a book and re-set anything so that I can sync my stopping place across all my devices. I use both my Kindle and my Android phone and I re-read a lot of my favorite books, so if I want to pick up my phone and read the book I was reading on the Kindle earlier, I have to remember or note the location where I stopped. Apparently you can have books “re-set” by Amazon, but you have to call them and ask them to do it, which is too big a pain in the ass, especially when I am re-reading books that only take me two days, tops, to finish.
DS said on 02.14.11 at 07:50 PM • [link]
Hate DRM. I crack it without a twinge of conscience. Hate territorial rights that keep me from the books I want. More books in eform please.
And if an ebook costs too much I just don’t buy it, no matter how much I want it. I will find a used copy some day. Then I will trade it back in or sell it online when I’m finished so someone else will have a shot at a cheap copy.
Also it would be nice to be able to use a stylus with an ereader. That is the thing I really love about my Edge. I need to break down and buy a new stylus though—one more like a real pen than an orange stick.
Alpha Lyra said on 02.14.11 at 08:10 PM • [link]
I love my Kindle, but I still buy about half of my books in print, and here is why:
1. Inconsistent and sometimes unfair pricing of ebooks. I wanted to buy a Malcolm Gladwell book on the Kindle, but it was split into 3 ebooks at $5 each, for a total of $15. The paperback was $10 for the whole thing. Well, I don’t want to be ripped off. I bought the paperback. Another example, I wanted to buy a Laura Lippman mystery. The ebook was priced higher than the paperback. In this case, I wasn’t in a hurry, so I threw the book on my wish list and waited 6 months. Then I checked again, and the ebook was priced at 99 cents!! So I bought it. Yay, a bargain! But they would have gotten a higher price from me if they’d priced it fairly 6 months ago.
2. If there is any possibility that I might want to share the book with a friend or family member, I buy paper instead of ebook. And I share a lot of books, so this represents a lot of missed ebook sales (though they are all paper sales instead, so maybe the publishers don’t mind).
3. If the book is nonfiction and I am going to use it for research, I always buy paper. It is so hard to use an ebook for research—flipping back and forth and searching for stuff is just a huge pain. I would love to see ebook companies find a way to make these tasks easy.
4. If the book has a gorgeous cover, I will probably buy paper. For example, recently I went to buy the YA novel Rampart. I was originally going to buy the ebook, and it was reasonably priced at a dollar less than the paper book. But it was remotely possible I might share it with my kids when they were older. And I loved, loved, loved the cover. So I decided to spend the extra dollar and get the paper version. If the cover art is being produced anyway, I’d love to have it on the ebook version. Preferably in color.
henofthewoods said on 02.14.11 at 08:55 PM • [link]
I am reading on my iPod Touch.
I have started using Bluefire which lets me read adobe drm books without breaking the drm - great. But I still have the borders app, the kindle app, the kobo app, a barnes and noble app, and stanza.
Some of these let you turn pages in a number of ways, some only have one way. - I would rather be able to pick what i want and if one programmer can do it, they should all be able to do it.
Most of these can be set so that the entire page doesn’t change justification portrait v. landscape over and over. But not all and definitely not bluefire. I hate having to not tip the iPod while I read because the page will turn 90 degrees from what I can read. HATE.
I also don’t like most of the ways to read adobe pdf formats, they show up with tiny print and you have to be gentle as you scroll or you lose your place on the page.
I tried a dedicated reader before I bought the iPod (replacing my palm) and was very frustrated as someone with 100’s of books. Scrolling down to a title sucks if you have many books, but it seemed like the reader was designed for people who only had 20 books at a time. What person who doesn’t ravenously devour books will get a dedicated reader?
The iPod is mostly doing what I want, but I still have 400 titles on the palm that can’t be transferred. The only reason I like the iPod is all of the new apps constantly being added. It feels like someone may solve any individual problem I have even if corporate leadership can’t be bothered.
ps- re barnes and noble not playing on a barnes and noble approved device. I had a download that didn’t work that should have worked. They refunded that one. Their customer service email was good.
Joy said on 02.14.11 at 09:21 PM • [link]
I think we’re all beginning to repeat each other and could use a list. Lack of a consistent format and DRM bug us all seemingly. I’m pretty techie and it frustrates the hell out of me at times. As for price, it infuriates me that I’m paying more for a digital book than the paperback price—absolutely outrageous since I can’t give it to a friend, donate it to the library or get credit for it at a half-price store. To argue for a full hardback book price—you know who you are Publishers!!—just makes me NEVER buy your book and put my name on the hold list at the library. You just lost a hardback, paperback and a digital sale from me. And don’t try to con me into believing that printing, shipping, and distribution only costs a measely amount so you can only discount about 10% off the hardback price. I don’t buy it—literally!
Finally, I have a new Kindle3 and while being able to add subject headings to book titles is fine, what about incorrect authors. How about being able to list books by series, by type of book and by more than one author. When you’ve got over 250 digital titles getting to the Ws on your list can take a lot of clicks. How about a search feature?
Meezergrrrl said on 02.14.11 at 09:32 PM • [link]
Wish list:
1. A single format to rule them all. Start with ePub.
2. All books should be treated equally on any one device. None of this “we won’t show you the covers unless you bought it directly from us” crap.
3. Standard highlighting and annotation tools (to go with the one format to rule them all).
4. Listen up hardware mfrs: I’m tired of the “must buy every new ereader that comes along” lifestyle. Really… I don’t need a Kindle and a Nook and a Sony Pocket and an iPhone and an iPad… But I have them all. I want one lightweight color device with the best features of my iPad (size, color, annotation), the weight of my Kindle, and with the format flexibility to handle legacy formats out of the box (Nook classic).
5. UIs MUST be efficient, and not remind me that the processor may be playing catch-up with any input interface (@Android).
We’ve been told that color eInk isn’t ready for primetime for 3-4 years running. Enough already. Get it out there, make it lightweight, and stop messing around with the hybrids and also ran technologies. There’s a reason people keep going back to LCDs: color. Fix this problem in eInk, and I’ll never buy another dedicated ereader with an LCD. Seriously.
becca said on 02.14.11 at 10:15 PM • [link]
I don’t care that much about color. It would be nice to see a color cover, but I’d settle for even just a b&w cover. Since most of my reading is fiction, there are no illustrations, and so no need for color - my paperback romances are all printed in black and white, after all.
but I do want to *own* the books I buy - if the button says “buy this now” I want to be purchasing the book, not just a license to read it on a very few devices.
I only purchase from amazon, even though I own a Sony (I use it for my drm-free books), because I don’t want to deal with the horror that is Adobe Digital Editions. And I heard that Adobe has no intention of updating ADE because it’s a free program. Shame on you, Adobe!
Aimee said on 02.14.11 at 10:16 PM • [link]
I have a kindle 3 and love it; but I’d like more levels of folders - it would allow me to have fewer folders on my home page, but still have the same amount of organization. Oh, and once color e-Ink is offered, I’ll be all over it :)
orangehands said on 02.14.11 at 10:43 PM • [link]
This may be more for publishers than e-readers, but like others said a. DRM, b. geographical restrictions, c. price, and d. I want to either be able to return an e-book or sell it if I don’t like it. Half the time I’m buying a new author, and sometimes I get real duds and don’t get past page 50. Yet I can’t return it like a regular book or re-sell it, so I’m out $5-8 (and for those who buy “hardcovers” its even more) for a crappy e-book that just sits there, wasting space, mocking me for wasting my money. And - here’s the part that interests them - I am a lot less likely to buy another book after that, because I feel like I just got screwed and don’t want that to happen again. Whereas when I buy a good book I immediately want to find another good book to buy. Now, its not like they can get rid of all duds (and one woman’s dud is another woman’s dream book of awesomeness), so I want the option of either returning it or selling it to that fictional woman who would love it.
Anyways, have fun at the conference!
bookstorecat said on 02.14.11 at 11:46 PM • [link]
I had an e-ink reader before my nookcolor and I don’t miss the slowness or the needing a booklight to read at night. It turned out I need not have been concerned that the backlit screen would hurt my eyes ( I am prone to migraines and sometimes computer screens and lighting issues will aggrevate the problem). Thank goodness. I read a book a week and right now I can hardly remember how I did that without an e-reader. I refuse to buy paperbacks or hardcovers anymore. Publishers can put it in ebook format or lose the sale.
Also, this sounds like an interesting idea:
*jaw-drops, eyes bug out of head
ghn said on 02.15.11 at 12:37 AM • [link]
Lately it seems that about half of the e-books I want to read are either totelly unavailable to non-Americans or available only as a pirate edition. Guys, I don’t WANT to pirate, but if that is the only thing available to me for a book I really want to read, do you think I hesitate?
Nope.
And get of the DRM. It sucks having to jump through extra hoops before I read a book. And right now the reason why I hate and detest DRM is painfully obvious - my PC has crashed and is currently waiting for service. Hopefully I won’t need to replace the hard drive, but if it is necessary, and I had not de-crapified those of my e-books that needed it, at least half the backup copies of my many, many, many e-books would be so much electronic junk now.
And the publishers who are reasonable about the above are the ones that get my $$$
cent32 - My 2 cents’ worth - though I spend lots more than that on ebooks
Willamae said on 02.15.11 at 12:42 AM • [link]
Well, I have a mac and it is really incredibly frustrating that I can’t open all files. Like .lit because holy bajesus. Windows specific files? Guys that’s just not legit at all. I really don’t enjoy having to try to code a file to open as, say, .epub, and honestly, I’m really bad at it.
Scraps said on 02.15.11 at 04:33 AM • [link]
Like nearly everyone else who read eBooks I say down with DRM! I’d also love to see a universal format. As another commenter said they are getting there with pub buy why does a pub I buy from Carina Press look different from the pub I get from AllRomance? I shouldn’t have to go into the settings of each of my damn eBooks to change the fonts and crap. Very annoying.
I have a Nook - got it within months of it coming out and I love it with an unholy love. I also got the NookColor within a month of it coming out and after playing with it for a few weeks I returned it. It had way more features than I’d ever use. For me that’s a waste.
What I would love is for Nook and NookColor to marry and have pretty little babies.
I want a color ereading device that runs on either WiFi or 3G or both. I don’t have a problem buying just a WiFi version as I very rarely am anywhere that doesn’t have a WiFi connection. I want to be able to get onto the internet but ONLY to buy books. While I *heart” my Twitter and Facebook I don’t want to do that while I’m reading. I thought I might like to send snippets of books to either FB or Twitter (as you are able to do with the NookColor) but never did. If I wanted to I have my cell phone within reach all the time anyway.
I don’t want my color ereader to have games, music, or pictures. I want books damnit. I want books. I would also get magazines on my color device.
I love having a touch screen but I also want easy forward and back buttons on both the left and the right side of my frame. I want my keyboard to be solely on my touch screen.
I got the Nook cause I thought I’d love the cover flow. Never use it. Let’s lose it. I love the color covers and organization on the NookColor though.
Once upon a time I had a Sony eReader and I was tempted by the new touch version but man, they are expensive. And no onboard internet connection? While I love that they are stripped down to being simply an ereader I do want a bit more bling. See WiFi and color above!
Totally agree with getting rid of regional restrictions. If I can walk into a store and buy a book in any country I should be able to do the same with my ereader. Being able to select a ‘buy next book in series’ link would be very cool to have as well.
Also please grant unto me the ability to edit my meta data on my ereader. I have Calibre and also love that with an unholy love.
Speaking of meta data, let’s get some universal format there too. I should never have to edit to clarify which number of a series any given book is.
I’m gonna shout this cause it’s nearly as important to me as getting rid of DRM. GET STABLE EBOOK PRICES! It’s absolutely insane that an eBooks EVER costs more than a print copy. Base the prices on the number of words in the book – not who publishes it, not who writes it. My consumption of eBooks from big name publishers has gone way down because indie publishers have better prices and amazingly good quality as well. The big guys are losing my business big time!
P.S. I’d love my charging port to be on the top of my ereader as opposed to the bottom or the sides. It would be out of the way up there.
Teresa C said on 02.15.11 at 04:52 AM • [link]
After years of using an HP iPaq, and for the last year an iPod Touch to read e-books, here are the basics.
1. Do not make anything on your device require Wi-Fi to work. That means do not make the user’s manual only available on the internet. When I click on the help button, it should go directly to the help screen, not to an internet browser.
2. Give me a way to easily add memory to my device. SD card reader built in is the easiest. Do not make me boot up my computer, and then sync my device to load a book, let me keep my entire 1000+ book library on a card, that I can slide into my device and put only the books I want to read into the library.
3. Do not assume that your customers have Wi-Fi available at all times. I work in IT, and I do not have internet service at home. Don’t really want it, don’t want it on my phone. To buy a book, I go to the Library, boot up, log in, download, and sync to my iPod Touch. That is my choice, but please make it easy to buy and transfer to my device of choice, see #2 above.
4. Make the interface between computer and device easy, and simple to use.
5. Give me a way to restore my device. If it breaks, can I move all my settings and library to a new device/model?
6. is more software related, when I enlarge the Font, please allow me to remove all but 1/16 in of margins. Having 3/4 in of white margin around the print on an iPod Touch screen leaves a very small area that is actually covered in print. Kindle app and Bluefire app, I am looking at you. If you make everything on the screen customizable, from margins, to line spacing, to whether or not you have page numbers at the bottom of the screen, that will be a huge win.
One thing I have learned, is that an eReader is not a paper book, and I don’t think manufacturers have embraced this basic fact. Take advantage of those differences, make them the reason to get an eReader. Make holding the eReader easy for an older population. Make the Font customizable. Make having a large library easy to carry around and manage. Give me a reason to buy a dedicated device, because currently, I don’t see why I should buy your one hit wonder, when I can get a MP3 player (for audiobooks), electronic calendar, solitaire all-in-one.
becca said on 02.15.11 at 05:25 AM • [link]
@Teresa C. Just fyi, with Calibre and a bit of finessing, the font is customizable on the Sony 350/650. Don’t know about earlier models.
industry29: the industry needs to get at least *a* clue, much less 29 of them.
Castiron said on 02.15.11 at 06:14 AM • [link]
I love reading on my iPod Touch, but I’m not yet willing to invest a lot of money in ebooks (I read fanfic and public domain works instead). If I buy a book, it’s because I’m reasonably sure I’ll want to read it more than once, and probably over many years. My paper books will probably be readable fifty years from now; I’m not convinced that I can say the same about most ebooks due to DRM and likely future format changes. I can leave my paper books to my kids; it’s not clear whether I can legally do the same with my ebooks.
Make it easy and legal for me to convert my books to run on the next device I buy; make it easy and legal for me to transfer my books to family members so that my personal library doesn’t become wasted money the moment I die; then I’ll start buying more ebooks.
Anna the Piper said on 02.15.11 at 06:19 AM • [link]
This is Relevant to the Interests of this thread, and in particular to all you Kindle users: if you didn’t know already, it looks like the Kindle update to implement ZOMG ACTUAL PAGE NUMBERS has dropped. I got the update with the Kindle app on my iPhone and apparently it’s gone out to actual Kindles as well…?
The caveat is that only some of the books I have are showing actual page numbers, not all of them, so apparently this functionality is on a book by book basis. But at least it’s a start!
MS8196 said on 02.15.11 at 07:46 AM • [link]
I have a nookcolor and I love it for the most part. The things I don’t love are:
1. The lack of directions! I was nearly driven to tears trying to figure out how to get library books on it (one of the main reasons I got a nook) and I still haven’t figured out how to get my nookbooks onto my computer.
2. I also HATE how non-bn books and files are relegated to “my files” and buried behind a few extra steps. I paid the money for the reader, the nookbooks, and my other ebooks, so let me organize them how I want!
3. Both of these issues are further complicated by the fact that I have a mac. I find this really annoying, since macs aren’t that uncommon now, yet companies only make things mac- compatible as an afterthought
4. I also agree with a lot of the other common complaints but it would be redundant to write them out again…
Sabine said on 02.15.11 at 03:58 PM • [link]
I don’t really care about DRM since that’s easily taken care of with a few additions to calibre but FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY! get rid of regional restrictions!!! I bought my Cybook Opus even though it was 10 bucks more expensive than the Kindle with a bunch of functions less(!) just to not be depending on Amazon and still if I want an eBook that’s not available on AllRomance/Samahin/eHarlequin I’m left with Amazon because I haven’t found another store that will sell me an eBook here in Switzerland!X(
Yes, I could buy eBooks from Swiss stores but they are just as expensive as a hardcover and here in Switzerland that’s about 20 to 30 bucks and I bought my eReader to save money.
Lynda the Guppy said on 02.15.11 at 11:36 PM • [link]
Am I too late?
On the Kindle you can resize the text of the books (yay!) but you can’t resize the text of the directory (WTH?). My aunt needs to have someone else select the book she wants to read, because she can’t read the directory.
And why can’t you sort your collections on your kindle by name??? Drives me bonkers.
bounababe said on 02.16.11 at 05:28 AM • [link]
I know I’m late here but I agree with pretty much everyone here said. Get rid of DRM. I rip that off of each and every ebook I buy, regardless of whether the original format is compatible with my iphone, and convert everything to PDF and PDB and have it in a file on my computer, where they can’t be “updated” out of my bookshelf. I’ve never bought a pirated book (although I might eventually if Ms. Rowling doesn’t wake up) don’t sell them, give them away, and have never even tried to print them, so don’t feel bad about getting rid of DRM at all.
I do wonder if the formatting wars have been actual deliberate attempts by ereader sellers/publishers to force readers into buying specific readers, or just free market WTFery. Has there been any discussion of this in the conference?
Lori James said on 02.17.11 at 07:54 PM • [link]
@library addict - are you using our advanced search feature? What would you like to see that isn’t there. Feedback is always welcome!
Lori
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