![]() The smell, the sound of the pages turning, the feel of the book in my hand – a myriad of details and sensory input which meld together in my head and equal “reading”.Ĭan the eReader possibly stand a chance when measured against such a love? This is the first device I’ve ever had that sulks in the corner and refuses to talk to me, as if recharging were some dirty and sacred act. I’m sure there’s a reason for this, but it’s very frustrating when every other machine I own is still usable while it’s sipping on its electric margaritas. I’m happy with the battery life.Īdditionally, I cannot use the eReader while it is charging. I’ve used up the batteries from full to empty in about 3-5 days of light/medium reading, with pretty heavy use of the backlight feature. Anything longer than one hour is “overnight” by my internal clock. I believe some users clocked it in at around 4 hours, but this is why I like to cook in the crock pot. Overnight is enough to charge the battery from empty. I was unprepared to wait until tomorrow (when it comes to new toys, tomorrow is always CENTURIES from NOW) before I could start truly twiddling with all the bits and bobs, adding content and wiping away the drool. This may seem like an innocent statement, but it takes a long time to charge up. ![]() Even The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy followed THAT rule.īefore I could use the device, I had to charge the batteries. Which observation brings up another guideline for technical writers – do not terrify your readers. The POINT is that I actually have a few questions whose answers may lie buried somewhere within the dizzying expanse of tiny printed text on that Quick Start Guide, and I am afraid to open the ruddy thing as I may not get it refolded again. I vote that the design of the widget, machine, or doohicky should be user friendly enough to not need explicit instructions, but that’s beside the point. However, the target audience of the Sony eReader is *gasp* readers! And guess what? I’ll bet most of us who just spent a metric boatload of milk money on an eReader are probably going to read the instructions, at least once. The number of people who read the average “Quick Start Guide” is probably pretty slim. I’ll grant you that any user guide tends to be fairly unpopular. I didn’t figure out how to use the eReader, but I did find a shortcut to Albuquerque. The Quick Start Guide had every detail of legalese in multiple languages, printed on both sides of super thin paper the size of my living room. Even roadmaps nowadays are coated in plastic and easy to unfold and refold. I have an easy guideline for any company compiling a user guide – if it is more frustrating and complex than a road map, you have failed. The faint of heart will find the original bulleted lists at the bottom of the post, nestled lovingly in the TLDR (too long, didn’t read) section.Īs noted in The Arrival, a Photolog, the “Quick Start Guide” is anything but. “Hold on to yer lug nuts, it’s tiiiiiime for an overhaul!” ![]() *cracks her knuckles* Obviously, they had no idea what they were getting into. ![]() Taking pity on me, the Smart Bitches graciously permitted me to ramble. ![]() Drier than the thanksgiving turkey at Aunt Edith’s. In order to fit my review in the wordcount requested by the Smart Bitches, I basically had to resort to bulleted lists and incomplete sentences. Now that I’ve poked, prodded, played with, dropped, and otherwise abused my Sony PRS-700 eReader (thanks again to the generous folks at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books for giving me the opportunity to test drive one of these babies!) it’s time for The Review. ![]()
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