The Writing Center

As readers of this blog know, I’ve been following closely the release of the Sony Reader, a handheld eBook-reading device that promises stunning clarity and portability.

Despite the $350 price tag, I really wanted one of these devices. Until I began reading the reviews — the negative far outweighing the positive.

My major reason for needing a Sony Reader is my poor vision. Every book I buy these days seems to be experimenting with smaller and smaller typefaces. I’m all for conserving paper, but who can read 8-point type? The Sony Reader allows you to increase type size on the fly.

Unfortunately, there is one feature missing from this device that has, for now, kept me from pulling out the credit card. There is no backlight on the Sony Reader. I like to read on planes, and I was recently on a 10-hour American Airlines flight when the lights in coach suddenly went out (not suprisingly, the lights in Business Class continued to operate just fine). I realize I shouldn’t base a purchasing decision based on one broken-down airplane, but that little episode made me wonder why this device doesn’t offer a backlight. If the Apple iPod can have a backlight, why can’t the Sony Reader? This seems like a feature we’ll see on version 2.0 of the device — or a competitive device from the folks at Apple.

So, for now I’m sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see what the competition does — and what Sony does next. I still believe that these portable readers are going to be huge. But I’m not convinced that Sony has created the perfect device — not yet at least.

If you’re curious about getting a Sony Reader now, here are two opposing reviews of the device…

The Good
Chicago Sun-Times

The Bad
The News & Observer

Yep, that’s the latest from various tech news reports, as well as the Sony Web site:

If you want to read preliminary reviews, check out Engadget and Gizmodo.

Will I get it? Six months ago I would not have thought twice. But now there appears to be some competitive devices to consider, including one from Panasonic.

So I might not be an early adopter, but I do think I will end up getting one — and I truly believe these portable readers are going to revolutionize publishing.

The cast of eBook players continues to grow as Engadget reports that Amazon is going to launch its own brand of eBook reader — the Kindle, shown here:

I must say that the Sony Reader appears more polished.

But then, where is the Sony Reader?

A writer for Make Magazine has a Reader in his hands right now and will be reporting on its performance. He suspects that Sony will have the device ready for the holiday season.

But now that we have devices expected from Amazon, Sony, Philips, and possibly even Apple, how great will demand be for the Sony Reader when it finally does ship? These past six months would have been the perfect opportunity for Sony to get out into the market and become synonymous with eBook readers, much the way the iPod is synonymous with MP3 players.

But there is still time and, based on what I’ve seen so far, the Sony Reader is still the best device out there. Apple remains a wild card still and could very well take another year to get to market (if at all) as it is now focused heavily on video.

So I’m still anxious to get at that Sony Reader. Project Gutenberg has provided a host of excellent (and free) books for loading and reading. And I still need a device to assist my poor vision.

Now that the iPod supports both audio and video content, why not add books to the mix?

Well, because that little iPod screen is too small to read much more than a sentence at a time (and, for those with vision as poor as mine, not even that much). However, should Apple release a new iPod with a larger screen, anything is possible.

According to the tech blog Engadget, at least one publisher has sent its archive of digitized books to Cupertino (Apple’s headquarters).

The rumor is the next iPod will feature a much larger screen, which would provide a more usable form factor for displaying books. It won’t be as crisp as the screen that Sony has cooked up, but then Sony is so far behind schedule on releasing is much-hyped Sony Reader that I could see Apple and Sony releasing competing products at right about the same time — and my money would be on Apple winning that bout. As much as I would love to have a device designed purely for reading books, when I travel I would like to have just one device that does everything.

The good news from all this is that we would have three different eBook readers hitting the market, which means competitive pricing and, hopefully, a wide selection of eBooks to choose from.

UPDATE: The Sony Reader has been officially delayed yet again, this time until the fall.

Sony has delayed the launch of the Sony Reader until “Late Summer 2006.”

People are speculating that the reason for the delay isn’t the device itself but the “Connect” software and Web site that will allow people to purchase books in much the same way that the iTunes software works with the iPod.

In the meantime, Sony has competition. Enter the iRex, developed by Philips.

This device is also due for a sometime-this-summer launch, though it will only be available to business customers. Regular folks like me will have to wait until September.

The Sony Web site says the new Sony Reader will be out in “Spring 2006″ and yet according to this AP article it won’t be in stores until the summer. That’s too bad because I was getting my hopes up.

Either there is a complete lack of enthusiasm among booksellers to promote this device or Sony is being difficult or late (or all of the above). Because so far Amazon hasn’t committed to selling it and Barnes & Noble won’t sell it.

Says the article…

“We have sold e-readers before and they haven’t done particularly well,” Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating said Tuesday in response to a query from The Associated Press.

Only Borders has signed on thus far. And that’s fine with me; I like Borders more than B&N. But why not Amazon? I suspect there are some heated discussions over digital content going on. Everyone has a vision for how they will own the books and profit from the content and nobody really wants to share. After all, Apple went it alone with iTunes and has done quite well for itself.

At this point all I want to know is an exact launch date.

From what I’m hearing, we’re less than two weeks away from the launch of the Sony Reader. While I doubt this launch will garner the same media attention of, say, a new Sony PlayStation, I might end up buying one.

Now, I know eBooks got off to a rough start a few years back. There was much hype about the death of paper, and Amazon was going to be doing all digital downloads. Needless to say, paper books are in no danger, and I don’t think the Sony Reader will be the death of them either. But, let’s face it, I’m getting old, and the type in these books keeps getting smaller. With the Sony Reader, you can increase type size up to 200% without any degradation of quality, which is my main motivation.

You can store up to 80 books, and the device claims a long battery life between charging. I travel a fair amount and would love to have something like this instead of all the books I lug around. The device also is good for PDF files, which I think could open up some interesting business publishing models.

Now, what kinds of books will you be able to view with this reader? The publishing industry, like the music industry, hasn’t exactly embraced the idea of digital downloads. John Wiley and Pearson have sued Google for simply making books searchable. So we can’t know what books will be available and what restrictions will be included. This alone will make or break the business model. However, if Sony has learned a thing or two from the iPod, hopefully it won’t be too restrictive with the rights.

Sony is setting up a ‘Connect’ store for eBook download, similar to the Apple iTunes store. I have to admit that I’d prefer it if Apple was launching a reader instead of Sony because Apple generally does a much better job in the usability department. But I’m excited nonetheless. The device isn’t cheap — $349 looks to be the retail price. But that price hasn’t exactly stopped the iPod from selling millions.

However, I think Sony’s real opportunity is going to be with the older folks, like me: People with disposable income and bad eyes. Leave the kids alone with their iPods; market the Readers to us.