Bruji

This came out on the 26th: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/ ... es+2%29%29

and it might be why Amazon has this draconian policy. That would be my guess.

Alex wrote:This came out on the 26th: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/01/ ... es+2%29%29

and it might be why Amazon has this draconian policy. That would be my guess.

Interesting. Still doesn't make sense to me though - Pocketpedia doesn't compete with anything Amazon might do themselves - in fact Pockeptedia encourages people to buy from Amazon! Am I (still) missing something here

Regards, Keith

Well, maybe release PockePedia for Kindle?

kbarnes70 wrote:
Interesting. Still doesn't make sense to me though - Pocketpedia doesn't compete with anything Amazon might do themselves - in fact Pockeptedia encourages people to buy from Amazon! Am I (still) missing something here

Regards, Keith

I don't think you're missing anything. I believe Amazon is using every tactic it has to make the kindle more useful, including smothering the competition any way they can. I don't think the kindle has sold as they expected and now they're in a pickle. Personally I would never buy one. I'd much rather have an iPad.

Alex wrote:

kbarnes70 wrote:
Interesting. Still doesn't make sense to me though - Pocketpedia doesn't compete with anything Amazon might do themselves - in fact Pockeptedia encourages people to buy from Amazon! Am I (still) missing something here

Regards, Keith

I don't think you're missing anything. I believe Amazon is using every tactic it has to make the kindle more useful, including smothering the competition any way they can. I don't think the kindle has sold as they expected and now they're in a pickle. Personally I would never buy one. I'd much rather have an iPad.

I have a Sony eReader and it's great. But I also want an iPad. They're two different things - the Kindle and the Sony are great at one thing: reading books. They have a 14 day battery life and can carry thousands of novels. I use mine like I use an mp3 player - on holiday and when away from home. But I think the Kindle and the iPad can live side by side, each doing what it does best. I have my doubts about the iPad's backlit screen for long reading sessions without eye strain for example. HST, I remain to be convinced about the iPad's capabilities in this area. One thing is for sure, Amazon will not bring the Kindle to the forefront by trying to prevent companies like Bruji from linking to Amazon on devices like the iPad or iPhone! I guess that, eventually, Amazon will learn this lesson. I hope so because I would *love* Pocketpedia on an iPad!

Kind regards,

Keith

kbarnes70 wrote: I have a Sony eReader and it's great. But I also want an iPad. They're two different things - the Kindle and the Sony are great at one thing: reading books. They have a 14 day battery life and can carry thousands of novels. I use mine like I use an mp3 player - on holiday and when away from home. But I think the Kindle and the iPad can live side by side, each doing what it does best. I have my doubts about the iPad's backlit screen for long reading sessions without eye strain for example. HST, I remain to be convinced about the iPad's capabilities in this area. One thing is for sure, Amazon will not bring the Kindle to the forefront by trying to prevent companies like Bruji from linking to Amazon on devices like the iPad or iPhone! I guess that, eventually, Amazon will learn this lesson. I hope so because I would *love* Pocketpedia on an iPad!

Kind regards,

Keith

I'm sure both the Kindle and the Sony eReader eclipse the iPad / iPod / iPhone when it comes to screen readability, this is what they were made for. But for me it's a matter of not having to carry around a bat-belt with 6 (read more than 1) gizmos. I have an 8GB iPhone and my music doesn't fit in it, not to mention my photos, animations, etc, but I live with that because it allows me to carry only one device where I have most everything. A lot of things are not great in the iPhone (note taking, secure notes, screen is a bit too small for watching videos, web browsing is a bit slow, etc), but again, the fact that it is one device and one device only is paramount for me. I even read books on it, hell forget books I even read comics on it! The iPad for me would be a device to have at home where I could read books and comics, watch movies, look at photos, surf the web and do mail without having to be sitting in front of my computer (which I do all day and need a break from). That's why it has much more value (for me) than an eReader.

I remember when I had to leave the house with 1 cell phone, 1 ipod for music and 1 palm pilot for notes and subway info. It was terrible keeping track of all those devices, not to mention that fact that I needed a small book bag to carry them all. Those days are over for me forever.

Alex wrote:

kbarnes70 wrote: I have a Sony eReader and it's great. But I also want an iPad. They're two different things - the Kindle and the Sony are great at one thing: reading books. They have a 14 day battery life and can carry thousands of novels. I use mine like I use an mp3 player - on holiday and when away from home. But I think the Kindle and the iPad can live side by side, each doing what it does best. I have my doubts about the iPad's backlit screen for long reading sessions without eye strain for example. HST, I remain to be convinced about the iPad's capabilities in this area. One thing is for sure, Amazon will not bring the Kindle to the forefront by trying to prevent companies like Bruji from linking to Amazon on devices like the iPad or iPhone! I guess that, eventually, Amazon will learn this lesson. I hope so because I would *love* Pocketpedia on an iPad!

Kind regards,

Keith

I'm sure both the Kindle and the Sony eReader eclipse the iPad / iPod / iPhone when it comes to screen readability, this is what they were made for. But for me it's a matter of not having to carry around a bat-belt with 6 (read more than 1) gizmos. I have an 8GB iPhone and my music doesn't fit in it, not to mention my photos, animations, etc, but I live with that because it allows me to carry only one device where I have most everything. A lot of things are not great in the iPhone (note taking, secure notes, screen is a bit too small for watching videos, web browsing is a bit slow, etc), but again, the fact that it is one device and one device only is paramount for me. I even read books on it, hell forget books I even read comics on it! The iPad for me would be a device to have at home where I could read books and comics, watch movies, look at photos, surf the web and do mail without having to be sitting in front of my computer (which I do all day and need a break from). That's why it has much more value (for me) than an eReader.

I agree 100% with you! I will be first in line for an iPad when it is available, for exactly the same reasons as you.

Alex wrote: I remember when I had to leave the house with 1 cell phone, 1 ipod for music and 1 palm pilot for notes and subway info. It was terrible keeping track of all those devices, not to mention that fact that I needed a small book bag to carry them all. Those days are over for me forever.

Yes, again I agree. I used to do the same but now my iPhone does almost everything I need. I will still use my eReader for reading books on holiday - it is no carriage in a suitcase and is less than 1cm thick so it doesn't even take up any room. But I bet I will be taking my iPad with me too. Sheesh - that's *three* things to carry then! I'm going backwads here!

Regards, Keith

kbarnes70 wrote: But I bet I will be taking my iPad with me too. Sheesh - that's *three* things to carry then! I'm going backwads here!

Regards, Keith

Damn! I hadn't thought about that, now I'll have to carry my iPhone AND my iPad! That's impossible. I'll have to do without the phone then.

How is any Pedia supposed to know where data comes from? For the Blu-rays I buy, I get the basic movie info from IMDB and the disc specs from blu-ray.com or highdefdiscnews.com. I keep an ASIN or Amazon URL only because Amazon is usually where I purchase discs and Iike to keep records, not because the information is from Amazon.

Is Amazon saying that if the data could have come from Amazon it must have come from Amazon, therefore sync is impermissible? Technically, that would include typing in the data yourself or using copy/paste, not just acquiring it via API. My response to this would have been "we don't know if any user's data came from Amazon, so we are in compliance with your rules".

jenv wrote:How is any Pedia supposed to know where data comes from? For the Blu-rays I buy, I get the basic movie info from IMDB and the disc specs from blu-ray.com or highdefdiscnews.com. I keep an ASIN or Amazon URL only because Amazon is usually where I purchase discs and Iike to keep records, not because the information is from Amazon.

Is Amazon saying that if the data could have come from Amazon it must have come from Amazon, therefore sync is impermissible? Technically, that would include typing in the data yourself or using copy/paste, not just acquiring it via API. My response to this would have been "we don't know if any user's data came from Amazon, so we are in compliance with your rules".

How do you get the info from Blu-ray.com (a great site BTW - I use it a lot for the reviews and link to the BDs in my collection)? Are you typing it in manually? Please tell me you are, or I will have been missing something for years

I'd be interested to know, too, Conor/Nora/Alex how the pedias know the data has been obtained at Amazon...

Kind regards,

Keith

As long as we're using Amazon's API to download data for the Pedias, we are not allowed to sync our applications to a mobile device. We could build a version (Amazon gave us permission for this) in which every single entry that came from Amazon would be completely censored, i.e. we couldn't even be able to sync the title. While this is an option, we believe that it would lead to so much confusion about missing entries that we will rather wait until we can replace Amazon before we build such a crippled iPhone/iPad version of Pocketpedia.

(It's also likely that if we did go ahead with such a censored version where all Amazon entries would simply not be synced, that Amazon could get confused and still force us to remove the program from the App Store they are likely not looking too closely at what the programs actually do. Case in point - in their email about Pocketpedia2 they mentioned searches on Amazon, which is a feature we'd removed on purpose in this version. But they didn't even notice.)

Pocketpedia2 was using the URL field, that links back to the original information, to check where the data for an entry came from.

Hi Nora,

I don't suppose there's been any news from Amazon with regard to the iPad? Do we know yet what they see this as? It's not a mobile device in the sense of the iPhone or a PDA - it has more in common with a netbook really. Does Amazon see a netbook or a laptop as a 'mobile device'? They're not objecting to DVDpedia being installed on a MacBook for example, so how do they see an iPad?

I would *love* a more fully featured iPad version of DVDpedia, taking full advantage of the bigger screen and keyboard for more complex editing opportunities for example. I shall be in New York city in April and picking up my iPad from Fifth Avenue - how cool it would be if there was a version of DVDpedia for it. We live in hope I guess.

Kind regards,

Keith

Recently I saw another application at http://www.collectorz.com/

They seem to have set up their own database. Might that be an option? Having all Pedia users provide their information to a central database, hosted by Bruji?

We have no idea whether Amazon classes the iPad as a mobile device or not but going with our previous dealings with them I'd say they see it as a mobile device and will not allow the Pedias on it as long as they have access to Amazon data. Which is exactly why we're planning on moving away from Amazon and towards our own database. We've actually talked to the Collectorz developer about it (they've been working on theirs for several years now) and got some very useful information and feedback.

This is going to be a huge change for the Pedias and it's not going to come from one day to the next but once we have things set up we'll definitely ask for user support to help us populate the database. (And from your responses and eagerness on the forum and in emails I'm sure we'll be able to build some very fine databases for the Pedias!)

Nora wrote:We have no idea whether Amazon classes the iPad as a mobile device or not but going with our previous dealings with them I'd say they see it as a mobile device and will not allow the Pedias on it as long as they have access to Amazon data.

Crazy isn't it? It's no more a "mobile device' than a laptop is. I think you are making the right choice to distance yourself from them and to set up a database of your own. I look forward to contributing to it.

Kind regards,

Keith