Wishing it wasn’t the one and only
It’s been a few weeks since I got my reader, and thought I’d share the interesting – though irritating – journey I recently made in the brave new world of purchasing an ebook.
I assumed ebooks would be universally available, like downloading movies. However, unfortunately for us in the UK, ebooks aren’t so easily available right now – not helped by restrictive proprietary file formats. Sony, who makes the reader, has not even launched a store in the UK, only in the USA. This store is only available to residents of the USA the Canada – believe me, I tried unsuccessfully to use it. So I had little option but to purchase an ebook from Waterstone’s UK, Sony’s ebook partner this side of the pond. Here begins my journey.
I’m a loyal Amazon customer, and expected my first experience with Waterstone’s to match what I have come to expect from Amazon – or like downloading a track on iTunes. But my feeling of trust was soon reduced when, from the ebook section of the site, I searched for a title, only to be offered paper book results. Turns out you have to add ‘ebook’ to every search.
Once over that hurdle, I tracked down the ebook and added it to my basket. As a new customer, I then needed to sign up before purchasing (all pretty standard stuff). On to the checkout – and then I noticed a link at the top of the screen urging me to download some Adobe rights management software prior to purchase.
Now, with no expectation of a smooth journey, I diligently clicked on the link, but the Adobe software took an age to download, install on my pc and then register, so when I returned to Waterstone’s to complete my purchase, my visit had expired; I was logged out and my shopping basket was empty.
Having had enough for one day, I took a break, and a day later attempted to purchase again, with the Adobe software firmly in place, I was able to confidently click on the ’submit order’ button, only to be faced with a screen telling me I was “unable to contact to the ebook fulfilment service”.
With calm thoughts I attempted to purchase again. This time with success. I will leave my journey there, but take note that I had to endure three or four more steps (download into the Adobe program, transfer to the Sony software, upload to the reader) before my first ebook was available on my reader.
From the gushing reports I’ve read, the Kindle sounds to offer a far superior purchasing journey – and if Sony wants its reader is to build any sort of following in the UK market before Kindle arrives, the ebook purchase customer experience needs an urgent re-write.