A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a Sony Reader and thought, “Why not?” After all, as the head of marketing and sales for NetGalley, a service that advocates digital galleys….well, that’s a train I should be on. But so far, I’ve not been converted.
The headline here is a little misleading—the truth of the matter is, the Sony Reader device is pretty okay. The setup was easy. It’s easy to use (though my 4-yr old fully expected a touch screen). It took a little getting used to the timing of moving to the next screen without interrupting the flow, and the screen size is too small for my liking. But overall, as a device, I’ll give it a B.
It’s the CONTENT that’s horrible.
Let me explain. Mainly, it’s difficult to find the content I want in the Sony eBook Store. For better or worse, I’m accustomed to the thorough and intuitive search you find on Amazon. It’s not perfect, but it’s good more times than bad. But because of the limited content in the Sony Library, and the (to me) preponderance of public domain titles popping up as search results, the feeling there is more bargain-basement than cutting edge.
Now, I admit, browsing for titles in an online bookstore or even a real bookstore is not so easy. Most readers go online or into a store looking for a title they want to purchase, even if only as a jumping off point for browsing. But here’s the rub with the Sony Reader store: the top five titles on my list? Not in the store. The top children’s book on Amazon, which my 8-yr old thought he would try? Not in the store. His next three choices? Not in the store. The 1000-page book on Pearl Harbor my husband thought would be perfect in digital form? Not in the store either.
Now I’m frustrated, though not ready to give up. I did finally find a book I’d try. (Note to publishers: I wasn’t willing to pay $15 for it, though—I opted for an under $5 book.) But Sony, why not give me my first 5 titles for $5? Even book clubs do this. Not treating the reading device owners as a club, who will eventually share, annotate and recommend content to other owners, seems shortsighted, especially as newer devices will have wireless connectivity built in. (Imagine your device telling you that there are 5 other people within walking distance reading the same book–or GPS on your reader that recommends books based on your physical location. You’re in Iowa? Try…).
But I digress. I started reading, finally, and again the content fell short. I’m just not satisfied with the ebook being an exact replica of the printed book. Don’t book publishers watch TV? I’m no expert, but haven’t you noticed that as DVR has become more popular, the content and makeup of shows has started to change? The front matter has gotten shorter, they’ve inserted content between commercials, product placement has crept in to nearly every aspect of the show itself. I’m not suggesting these tactics for publishers, but why not find ways to enhance the reading experience?
You know what I’d like to see? Something that calculates how much longer I have before finishing the book at my current pace. Or, at the end, suggestions for how I can share my thoughts with other folks who have read the book, or other books I might download next.
I believe that the Kindle’s connectivity (and others to follow) may eventually overcome some of these hurdles, and if you haven’t read Felix Torres’ recent post on Teleread about Amazon’s Kindle strategy, stop reading this and click on it. The one bright shining spot I can see for publishers in all this is that they cultivate and harvest quality content; and despite Amazon’s many talents, content creation is not high on the list.
Recently, I’ve seen a lot of tweeting from publishing folks noticing Kindle users in the subway and other city places. These tweets have an air of wistful excitement—“it’s happening, someone’s really coming to our party!” And I agree, change seems to be in the air. But I live in suburbia. There are no Kindles on the school playground or in the supermarket, none that I’ve seen.
Until publishers think “outside the book” to deliver reading experiences, I believe there’s a real danger that their curated and edited content won’t be as widely consumed as it could be—and that is a far bigger danger.
[...] See the original post here: I’m not bonding with my Sony Reader [...]
Sony Reader 700 comes with touch screen and increased screen refresh speed, but the contrast (and book-like feeling) was lost
So if you own Sony Reader 505, you are lucky.
[...] Ruszala over at Follow the Reader has spoken what I have been thinking lately about digital books. “…but I’m also not [...]
I’m beginning to think I’m the only person interested in a non-wireless eReader that has a lot of cool public domain titles available for reading on it.
The irony is that I can’t afford to buy a Sony eReader, especially sight-unseen. (I live in the middle of the country–there are no Sony eReaders or Kindles anywhere nearby for me to test.) And since eBook prices are already inching up, there’s less incentive to buy an eReader, too.
I’m not bonding with my Kindle either, after initial excitement upon receiving it. I use it for work primarily (sales rep), and I’ve downloaded a few things that I bought. But it keeps sitting on my desk and traveling with me on the road unopened, while I continue to read galleys and actual books in the meantime. I love the whispernet feature. It IS very cool. However, 95% of the time, I’m copying PDF’s from my computer to my Kindle the old-fashioned way, hooking up the cable to my computer.
[...] I’m not bonding with my Sony ReaderSusan Ruszala of NetGalley discusses her problems with the Sony Reader. Hint: it’s the content, that is all. [...]
eBook prices are indeed a major problem. I don’t think any publisher will succeed in convincing me that a book is worth the same in hardcover as it is in digital form. Nor is it worth the same as the paperback. Just as I pay significantly less for a paperback than a hardcover, eBooks should be much cheaper. eReaders will not succeed until then.
I don’t have the Sony or the Kindle but between the two, I’d probably prefer the Sony (too much time abroad for the Kindle to be worth the extra cash). It’s interesting that the store is uncomfortable – I would have thought the main Sony perk is Google’s free cache and Gutenberg’s classics.
What I find most interesting is that our opinions completely differ on the matter of the content. Where you’re disappointed regarding how it’s identical to a book, that’s sort of what I’m looking for. I don’t want my reading to become interactive, I’d like it to remain a fairly quiet, personal activity. I don’t want constant e-mails about what books I might like next (don’t I get enough of those when I buy print editions online?) or constant updates. I just want to read the book. Yes, some features would be nice, like annotating or highlighting but there’s no need to turn eReaders into all over multi-purpose computers… I’d much rather just have a book in my hands.