just a short recap since it's rather late and i just got home, but since i know you're all waiting just for that (and since you probably wake up earlier than i do...
) here we go.
there were about a dozen of us : Hadrien of course but also Loïc from Feedbooks ; Guillaume from Bookeen ;
Alain Pierrot ; Tebaldo ; and a handful of other people (members of MobileRead or interested members of the public). absent were notably Martin Gorner from Mobipocket and the journalist who contacted me ; perhaps they will be there next time.
among the devices we traded around :
- an eb1150
- several Cybook
- Sony 505
- Sony Librié
- Ganaxa
- several ipod touch (alas... the list of my "coveted gadgets" just keeps getting longer... note to self : please remember to play the loto)
- the wifi (or 3G ??) dongle (heeheehee) from the Orange beta test
...and even the maquette (made of paper !!) of the appareil used for the offer by Les Echos, of which tebaldo explained to us that it did not work.
EDIT : oh yeah, there was a kindle too !!
i wish i could have followed all the different conversations because they were all fascinating !! alas i have but 2 ears... but as a good delegate i did corner Guillaume from Bookeen to ask him a few questions... ^^ and even better than that, he proposed that i email him the complete list, and he will try to have some concrete answers ! too kind of him !! along with Pauline, he's my new best friend.
basically, the answer to all your questions about the Cybook is : they know, and they're working on it, and they're doing everything possible to fix things quickly.
more specifically :
folders : YES !!! they are coming !! they were hoping to include them in the first update, but apparently it's a bit complicated to put into place. but they are coming !
lower prices : as soon as possible ! but no doubt not before the arrival on the market of the Epson / Plastic Logic products, because for the moment it's PVI who is blocking everything.
page numbers : yes, with epub (it's a mobipocket flaw, as we saw).
start up directly in the book you were reading when you turn on the device, instead of going through the library view every time : they are working on it.
update without SD card : not for the moment.
Cybook available in shops : already there !!! and i admit i am falling down on the job here because i knew that and i forgot ! arg !! they are already available at
Brentano's in paris for example, and they are in negotiations with other bookshops, including some big ones (without naming names, follow my eyes...) and some small ones (including my friendly neighborhood bookshop, where i just bought the latest Fred Vargas in paper (snif) since it's not available in ebook, starting next week, when we will go together to test the waters).
you can also see a list of bookshops on the bookeen site.
other very important information : Guillaume had such a great time tonight that he wants everyone to do the same. so he can't wait for us to have another MR apéro in Paris (end of october, mark your calendars... in fact i had to hold him back, because when i told him the proposed date, he said "but it's so far away !!" héhé !), and everyone not living in Paris, you should also do the same in your own town ! try it, it's a lot of fun, you'll see ! and especially he thinks (and i agree) that it would be really great if people using liseuses could meet each other, or meet people who don't yet have a liseuse but are curious. a bit like the system of the Kindle users "see a Kindle in your city," where people who have one offer to meet people who want to see one, and give a demo. so ? who's willing ?
maybe we could create a thread to say "i live in this city, and if you buy me a drink i'll show you my Cybook / Sony / Iliade / ipod touch with stanza on it / etc."
we also talked amongst ourselves about the problems of publishers who aren't getting on the train (they'll have to eventually ! but maybe we should give them a little push, so please don't hesitate to write to them and tell them how frustrated you are lack of content / overpriced content !), about the ebook / liseuse experience, about what it will take for ebooks to take off in France (lower prices, more content, more devices on the market) and we all were very excited to think that all that is coming soon or maybe even on the way already, but at the same time we're a bit tired of waiting. but it was good to get it off our chest !
and i also mentioned to Guillaume from Bookeen the threads about our suggestions for future updates, and i also mentioned the MR Worldcon 2009 contingent (i said to check the site about that). Guillaume was quite interested to hear about that, he likes Science Fiction.
i've probably forgotten some things so i'll add more tomorrow. i hope also that the others who were there will add some stories, since unfortunately i couldn't follow EVERYTHING !!! despite my best efforts !!
oh and did i mention, it was a great evening and a lot of fun to meet everyone and discuss and exchange our experiences ! i hope everyone who was there tonight will come back for the next one, and i hope there will be plenty more as well !!