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Sony Reader E Ink machine to be sold at Borders
April 3, 2006 | 12:18 pm
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By David Rothman
“Sony Electronics and Borders®, Inc., today announced an agreement to make the Sony Reader–an innovative reading device for e-books and text documents–available through about 200 Borders stores nationwide. The Sony Reader will debut in Borders and more than 30 Sony Style stores around the country as well as online at www.sonystyle.com.” – News release. Related: CNet story.
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Comments:
Excellent news, if only to give the chance to experience one of these devices first hand. I want something like this to succeed, whether it be the Sony or not. I’ve not seen e-Ink up close yet and so this will be a great way to get a good close look at it.
[...] Sony e-Reader to be sold at Borders bookstores TeleRead.org is reporting that Sony will be selling it’s new e-Reader device at about 200 Borders bookstores in the U.S. The stores seem almost ubiquitious through many areas, and it looks like an ideal way to work into a strong potential market. Every retail push of this sort is a win for not just Sony, but for e-book readers in general. And a convenient purchase location is likely to influence many of the e-book reader fans that are having trouble deciding between models. Full details are available in the Sony press release. Related reference: E-ink reader comparison matrix. [...]
Damnit, I swore day before yesterday that I would never shop at a Borders store again for that they did to the Free Inquiry magazine. I think there is a Sony store in the Crystal City mall by the Pentagon, I’m not sure but it’s not far from where I live. I advise you all not to shop there either, if you don’t know what I’m talking about look here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_re_us/prophet_drawings_1
Reading a few of the CES reviews on this device only left me wanting a more robust hands-on review.
My biggie question is how well it converts. The small print at the Sony site indicates a conversion proccess to Sony’s proprietary format “BBeB” is needed…oh fun.
Okay fine no surprise there….however…
The Sony site says it will take “personal documents”.
“Personal Document” ?
Okay how bout…can it convert plain old text and html to BBeB?
I don’t want to be tied into buying books from their store. Conversion is the “key” sell point for me.
With all the convert to text/html software out there being able to convert text or html files to BBeB would make buying this worthwhile, methinks.
[...] TeleRead.org is reporting that Sony will be selling it’s new e-Reader device at about 200 Borders bookstores in the U.S. The stores seem almost ubiquitious through many areas, and it looks like an ideal way to work into a strong potential market. Every retail push of this sort is a win for not just Sony, but for e-book readers in general. And a convenient purchase location is likely to influence many of the e-book reader fans that are having trouble deciding between models. Full details are available in the Sony press release. MobileRead Networks [...]
Wow … this is potentially a turning point in book/ebook history!
Consider this: By going retail, what if users start seeing “ePaperbacks” appearing as a plastic shrink box with a small booklet containing the Book summary, Author’s BIO and a MS (or SD) card? And as part of launch promotion, its priced slightly lower than normal paperbacks.
And how about having normal paperbacks come with a low-capacity MS card?
Maybe these MS card can be readonly cards or something?
[...] At any time, Sony is going to release its E-Ink device. According to TeleRead.org, Sony’s ebook device is going to be available in Borders store. HarperCollins and RandomHouse have pleged to digitize their entire front list and backlist. I may buy a Sony E-Ink device just to spur the release of more ebooks. Please, big NY Publishers, start releasing all your books in digital format (and not Adobe PDF) at the same time you release the paper version. You might get more sales. Imagine! [...]
Sony is using their muscles!
For a bright future of E-books!
Cheers!
gemstar sold their machines in barnes and noble.
didn’t seem to help them establish anything solid.
-bowerbird
well…there is always hope…
[...] At any time, Sony is going to release its E-Ink device. According to TeleRead.org, Sony’s ebook device is going to be available in Borders store. HarperCollins and RandomHouse have pleged to digitize their entire front list and backlist. I may buy a Sony E-Ink device just to spur the release of more ebooks. Please, big NY Publishers, start releasing all your books in digital format (and not Adobe PDF) at the same time you release the paper version. You might get more sales. Imagine! [...]
This historical announcement caught me by surprise. It is not the way Sony usually plays. They often prefer to go it alone, perhaps dreaming of those salad days when Sony was the Apple of the consumer electronics world. Those days are long gone of course, following a number of very bad business decisions and a DRM-based paranoia that was positively scary.
It is the first time two such major, powerful brands have embraced e-books to this extent and the possibilities are huge. In one step it could help transform the e-book from a small geeky sub-genre available via little-known internet sites to a mass market force that changes the publishing world forever. Borders bookstores are very popular places here in the U.S. A Sony-Borders alliance creates potential public exposure to e-books that is way, way beyond anything we have experienced so far in our little digital enclaves of e-book aficionados.
I’ll reserve my applause until public libraries can get involved somehow (after all, most of us commoners don’t have the $$ to buy a fraction of the books we want/need to read) but this announcement jolted me more than my morning Starbucks fix. Ooh, a preloaded Sony Reader sold at Starbucks… the possibilities are endless.
How come the cNet article says the Sony Reader will be released in Summer. Wasn’t the release date supposed to be spring?
Anybody have any updated info?
2 chris:
Here is the original from Sony’s site:
http://news.sel.sony.com/pressrelease/6594
Still don’t know if I will buy this or the iRex Iliad.
Sony release it know please so I can just buy it and get it over with.
@Siad
in the next few days you’ll be able to get a lot more info about the iRex iliad because the first shipment of deivices seems ready to go at last.
A few lucky ones will received their evices tomrrow (i’m among those lucky ones…^^) and a larger group should receive theirs on friday or beginning of next week.
Maybe that will help you reach a decision between Sony and iRex.
Most info will be at mobileread.com, but i’ll try to put something up here at Teleread.org as well.
There is a video review from PcMag.com showing the Sony Reader in action.
You can find the link here:
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6980