Hi all

I’m a bit of a technology freak – I love my MacBook and my iPod and (you might have guessed) I’m a fan of Apple Products. But that doesn’t stop me from liking other electronic products too. So I’ve been watching the digitalisation of book with great interest, especially siince most of mine are now available in ebook format.

My partner very kindly bought me a gorgeous Sony reader for Christmas, so imagine my disappointment when I realised that it is not compatible with Mac software! According to Sony this is because Mac is a ‘niche product’. Not sure that all the iPod owners who download music by Sony artists would agree! And I certainly don’t.

I don’t mind what operating system people use. I prefer Mac OS, others are happier with Windows. But I think it’s extraordinary that Sony has blanked out an entire section of its potential clients by not making the Reader compatible. It shouldn’t be that difficult. For those of you who are techno-heads, yes it is posible to see the reader on the computer as an external drive and it is also possible to drag files onto it; but if you buy a book from Waterstones (who support the reader) you won’t be able to drag it and read it because of the digital protection which can only be unlocked via the Sony software.

I wanted to contact Sony about this and went to the ‘Contact Us’ area of their site but you can’t actually contact them this way.

So I’m really disappointed as I think the Reader has a great ability to bring books to people in a new format and I enjoyed the idea of bringing less weight iin my luggage whenever I travel! In the current economic climate it’s surely not a good idea for Sony to disenfranchise potential customers.

For this reason I can’t recommend the eBook even though it is stunning to look at!!!

Sheila