Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7232995/

As someone who got an HP548 with the idea "wouldn't it be
neat if I can read the new Harry Potter book on my 548,
i've come to the conclusion that e-books are for all
practicle purposes dead.

HP/Compaq/etc. all promised e-books for the ppc,
all have failed miserably to deliver on this promise.
I blame Microsoft more than anyone else. After all
if Apple can deliver music to us why can't Microsoft
deliver e-books.

If the people who publish e-books ran the print
books operation they would find a way to put you
in jail for letting your sister borrow a printed
book.

IMHO lots of people dropped the ball on e-books. Many
promised us the world for e-books and failed to deliver.
If I had known that before shelling out more than $500
for that 548 I'd have opted not to get the 548.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

DW wrote:
> As someone who got an HP548 with the idea "wouldn't it be
> neat if I can read the new Harry Potter book on my 548,
> i've come to the conclusion that e-books are for all
> practicle purposes dead.

Very well

> HP/Compaq/etc. all promised e-books for the ppc,
> all have failed miserably to deliver on this promise.
> I blame Microsoft more than anyone else. After all
> if Apple can deliver music to us why can't Microsoft
> deliver e-books.

What does Microsoft have to do with that? They the operating system, the
software and even a good number of e-books for free. Providing _content_
is a task for the publishers. People (the ones who blame Microsoft for all
that's wrong in the world) would scream bloody murder if MS would offer
packaded deals of hardware, OS, software AND content.

> IMHO lots of people dropped the ball on e-books. Many
> promised us the world for e-books and failed to deliver.

True, but many do deliver.

> If I had known that before shelling out more than $500
> for that 548 I'd have opted not to get the 548.

Ouch, $500 for the 548? Was this 4 years ago? In case you're interested,
reading e-books is one of the main things I'm using my PocketPCs for, one
of them a HP 548, another one a Toshiba e335. Btw, _I have read_ all the
Harry Potter books in digital form :-)

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

"René" <kar98@the-coalition.us> wrote in message
news:_GY_d.24104$YD4.13585@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
| DW wrote:
| > As someone who got an HP548 with the idea "wouldn't it be
| > neat if I can read the new Harry Potter book on my 548,
| > i've come to the conclusion that e-books are for all
| > practicle purposes dead.
|
| Very well
|
| > HP/Compaq/etc. all promised e-books for the ppc,
| > all have failed miserably to deliver on this promise.
| > I blame Microsoft more than anyone else. After all
| > if Apple can deliver music to us why can't Microsoft
| > deliver e-books.
|
| What does Microsoft have to do with that? They the operating system,
the
| software and even a good number of e-books for free. Providing
_content_
| is a task for the publishers. People (the ones who blame Microsoft
for all
| that's wrong in the world) would scream bloody murder if MS would
offer
| packaded deals of hardware, OS, software AND content.
|
| > IMHO lots of people dropped the ball on e-books. Many
| > promised us the world for e-books and failed to deliver.
|
| True, but many do deliver.
|
| > If I had known that before shelling out more than $500
| > for that 548 I'd have opted not to get the 548.
|
| Ouch, $500 for the 548? Was this 4 years ago? In case you're
interested,
| reading e-books is one of the main things I'm using my PocketPCs for,
one
| of them a HP 548, another one a Toshiba e335. Btw, _I have read_ all
the
| Harry Potter books in digital form :-)
|
|

Are the books officially released in e-book form yet? Is that your real
(and traceable) email address?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

DW wrote:
> As someone who got an HP548 with the idea "wouldn't it be
> neat if I can read the new Harry Potter book on my 548,
> i've come to the conclusion that e-books are for all
> practicle purposes dead.
>
I've been doing the majority of my entertainment reading on my ipaq for a
couple of years, and ebooks certainly don't seem dead to me.

However portable devices with large enough screens to make decent ebook
readers are a lot more expensive than typical mp3 players, and paperback
books are already pretty cheap, plus a lot less books get sold than
songs/albums, so it's a difficult market compared to music.

I wouldn't say than anyone has dropped the ball - Microsoft can't make
reading a more popular passtime than it is, and the market determines the
price of the hardware.

True, some publishers don't support ebooks, but plenty do, and I think that
will get better rather than worse as time goes by. Apart from anything else,
just like the audio market there is a healthy trade in pirated ebooks going
on, and book publishers will probably come to the same conclusions as music
publishers as far as ignoring downloading goes.

Tony

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

alan smith wrote:
> Are the books officially released in e-book form yet?

Nope.

> Is that your real

Yes.

> (and traceable) email address?

Yeah, right. Nope.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 17:26:43 -0000, "alan smith"
<alan@REMOVEmral.fsnet.co.uk> came right out and said:

>Are the books officially released in e-book form yet? Is that your real
>(and traceable) email address?

A bogus email address does not make usenet postings untraceable.


--
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me
than a frontal lobotomy.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

René wrote:
> What does Microsoft have to do with that? They the operating system,
the
> software and even a good number of e-books for free. Providing
_content_
> is a task for the publishers. People (the ones who blame Microsoft
for all
> that's wrong in the world) would scream bloody murder if MS would
offer
> packaded deals of hardware, OS, software AND content.
Because Microsoft/HP/Compaq and others created the platform. All went
out
of the their way to advertise E-books. If apple can create a music
service
and make it happen then so too should Microsoft/HP and other PPC.
Companies.

> True, but many do deliver.
Then name one "legal" source where i can get Harry Potter/Terry
Pratchet/and other books in fully legal forms.

> Ouch, $500 for the 548? Was this 4 years ago? In case you're
interested,
> reading e-books is one of the main things I'm using my PocketPCs for,
one
> of them a HP 548, another one a Toshiba e335. Btw, _I have read_ all
the
> Harry Potter books in digital form :-)
$450 for the 548 at Staples, + lots of
accessories/software/etc.+extended
warranty = a lot more than $500.00

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

On 19 Mar 2005 08:14:55 -0800, "DW" <DrWoodardOnDS@hotmail.com> wrote:

>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7232995/
>
>As someone who got an HP548 with the idea "wouldn't it be
>neat if I can read the new Harry Potter book on my 548,
>i've come to the conclusion that e-books are for all
>practicle purposes dead.
>
>HP/Compaq/etc. all promised e-books for the ppc,
>all have failed miserably to deliver on this promise.
>I blame Microsoft more than anyone else. After all
>if Apple can deliver music to us why can't Microsoft
>deliver e-books.

I'm not sure why you need e-books specifically for the pocket pc.
Won't any e-book work? There are quite a few e-books out there, and
you can't blame HP or MS if JK Rowling doesn't want her books
distributed in e-book format. Well you can blame them, but it'd be a
weird transfer of blame.

>
>If the people who publish e-books ran the print
>books operation they would find a way to put you
>in jail for letting your sister borrow a printed
>book.
>
>IMHO lots of people dropped the ball on e-books. Many
>promised us the world for e-books and failed to deliver.
>If I had known that before shelling out more than $500
>for that 548 I'd have opted not to get the 548.

Are you saying that the Jornada 548 was hyped as the best pocket pc
for reading e-books when it was released? Are you saying that you
would have gotten a palm? I'll tell you that I've tried reading an
e-book on a QVGA screen, and it's difficult. I've given up trying get
joy out of that.

---
Mark A.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

If an auto maker in the US promised a car that got 500 miles to a
gallon of gas they'd be fined for false adverstising (millions of
dollars) and be forced by the government to issue a recall.

PPC makers can do the same thing and get away without
even a slap on the wrist.

When it comes to false advertising the PPC industry is
king.

Don't thnk they advertised fasely? Then show me
where I can get the NY Times bestsellers (including JKR)
on e-book format, E books were one of the
big advertising points when I first got my first ppc.


--------------------------------

"Republicans believe that life
begins at conception and ends at
birth."
--------------------Barney Frank

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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

"Bruno" <spamthis@server.com> wrote in message
news:utpo31ppjt5lsd1a1fv0bej89e3jkm0fll@4ax.com...
| On Sat, 19 Mar 2005 17:26:43 -0000, "alan smith"
| <alan@REMOVEmral.fsnet.co.uk> came right out and said:
|
| >Are the books officially released in e-book form yet? Is that your
real
| >(and traceable) email address?
|
| A bogus email address does not make usenet postings untraceable.
|
|
| --

Yes. But tell Rene, not me.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.pocketpc (More info?)

alan smith wrote:
> "Bruno" <spamthis@server.com> wrote:
>> A bogus email address does not make usenet postings untraceable.

> Yes. But tell Rene, not me.

What and why? I never claimed to believe what I'm posting is untraceable.
But then again, I posted nothing "illegal" either, so what appears to be
the problem?