I dropped by the Sony Reader’s e-store to pick up a some free Connect classics before the deadline expires at the end of tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 31. It’s also the deadline for the $50 credit toward nonclassics.
The big question about Connect Classics, listed here, is, “What’s the point?” Has anyone taken a close look at the freebies to see if they contain many fewer typos than public domain equivalents available via Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.net or elsewhere?
I glanced at the Sony Connect version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, picked up from Pennyslvania State University’s Electronic Classics series. As the above image shows, the Connect edition looks spiffy. But I didn’t see an introductory essay or something else—other than the cover, branded of course—that would add heaps of value for a casual reader. Similarly, Sony Connect does not appear to have really enhanced Robert Louis Stevenson‘s Across the Plains, from the same source.
No boldface option for readability, alas
Oh, and you can’t change easily tweak content Reader’s proprietary format, so that, for example, you can use boldface to make the text easier to read on an E Ink screen. With RTF from Manybooks.net, on the other hand, a format that the Reader can also read, bolding is possible. So the end result is that the Sony editions might actually be less valuable to me, given my fondness for boldface for screens with less than optimal contrast.
Copyight notices, natch
On top of that, public domain boosters will be dismayed but not surprised to see that Sony has inserted a 2007 copyright notice “for this format version” and reproduced an earlier notice from Penn State “for the source electronic book file version.”
What’s the situation as a whole for Connect? What did it do other than render the book in Sony’s format? And after the offer expires, will Sony charge, as I expect?
At the same time, no, I wouldn’t want Sony Connect to get rid of the classics on sale. Listed price are low, $2 for either of the two named books, and it’s good to keep the classics on the minds of readers; besides, Sony Connect is hardly the only store on the Net selling the oldies. Whatever it takes to persuade well-meaning people to make classics available! I just hope that Reader buyers can also be told of the free alternatives from the public domain sites. Now, that would really show good intentions.
Liberal bias in Sony RSS selection
As for the RSS feeds for the Sony Reader, Sony after many months, is giving us only around 19, and the selection definitely shows a little political bias. I see Daily Kos, Boing Boing, Slate and the Huntington Post in there, but not National Review.
I’m a Kos guy, etc., myself, but objectively, this is yet another example of the risk of associating hardware too closely with content. Does the RSS feed just reflect one Sony employee’s politics? Or was this selection cooked up by marketers—aiming the reader for people in a certain demographical category? If Boing Boing’s on there, I doubt everyone had to pay. Maybe no one did.
Still, I’m grouchy. You’d think that by now Sony would let people pick their own feeds. If they can’t, maybe the store needs to direct people to the news page at Hadrien‘s wonderful little Feedbooks site.
Hey, relax Sony. I’m not gonna report you to Bill O’Reilly or Homeland Security.
I’m a little late I know, but it has to be said: Everyone knows thats reality has a well known liberal bias. The reader is simply reflecting the real world. Plus, I mean, come on- flag humping, Bush-hugging, “conservatives” don’t like technology. Or BOOKS. At least not ones without “Culture Warrior” written someplace on it and the requisite American flag. The only tech a conservative likes are bombs, radio (for all the hate shows), and whatever device makes half this country borderline retarded enough to vote republican.