Can I forgive Sony in order to buy this?

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Sony Reader: Gizmodo’s Hands All Over, $350 in October (Really!) - Gizmodo

So, Sony sucks.  After their insistence on their stupid proprietary flash memory, their rootkit fiasco and subsequent refusal to take responsibility, and a general “Our customers are criminals who must be stopped” mentality, I wrote off the company.  But, damn, this is a sexy gadget.  Have you ever wished you could take your whole book collection with you?  Tired of paper cuts?  Want a real step forward in the whole book-reading experience?  This thing is it.  I really want one, and I don’t know if I can buy one.  I’m really, really hoping that someone, soon, puts out a similar device that runs on Linux or something.  I don’t think it will happen, though.  Book publishers will almost certainly reject anything that doesn’t help implement their DRM, and a Linux device isn’t likely to satisfy them.

What should happen, at the very least, is the electronic ink technology their using should become more common.  The cool thing about electronic ink is that it only uses power when the screen changes.  Excellent applications include the preview on the outside of your cell phone, or advertising billboards.

So, we’ll see if the cool factor outweighs the Sony sucks factor.  And if it does, the next hurdle is wife-approval.  But I think I can handle that.

Posted in: Technology