Errors in eBook Texts at Connect Store

aleks · 11-05-2006, 02:57 PM

Hello all. In one of the threads I read about how some of the readers have found errors in the text of ebooks that are being sold by Connect. I encountered this when I read Always Faithful by William Putney. I sent a note to the Connect store as well as the publisher expressing my concern over the lack of quality control of the product being sold. I recommend that if you encounter errors that you do the same and thus we may improve the reading quality. If nothing else we will demonstrate that we readers of ebooks do have a voice and that we are interested in the quality of the product that we are being asked to pay for.

Aleks

Teresita3 · 11-05-2006, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aleks

Hello all. In one of the threads I read about how some of the readers have found errors in the text of ebooks that are being sold by Connect. I encountered this when I read Always Faithful by William Putney...

Aleks

There are some quotation problems in "On Writing" by Stephen King. Nothing major, just recurring errors in certain sections of the book.

airlik · 11-06-2006, 10:29 AM

I grabbed a few books from the Connect store over the weekend, haven't started on them yet... but are they that much worse than normal printed books? I almost always find typographical errors in printed books, some books being worse than others.

igorsk · 11-06-2006, 10:39 AM

Didn't notice any glaring errors in mine so far (I've only read four though). Maybe we should check if it's specific to some publishers? My (good) books were from Yearling (Random House) and Spectra (Random House).

aleks · 11-06-2006, 11:56 AM

The errors I found did not disabuse me of my love of the PRS500. It just irratates the heck out of me that they charge so much for an ebook that they surely can afford the time to proofread the converted document. They would not put a pbook on the street with these type of errors! If they do not care to provide quality control then offer a deeper discount on the ebooks.

NatCh · 11-06-2006, 03:44 PM

I've gotten through one and started another, and not noted any errors (I've had other things in line to read, you see

).

I think I heard that some e-text generating services are better about this sort of thing than others.

The thing that makes my head itch is that when the book is electronic right up until it's printed on the paper, there has to be an error free e-version of it somewhere, or the paper copies would be just as bad as the flawed electronic ones. So it seems to me that the pubs ought to just provide a fully proofed text for conversion to whatever format and get out of the way. Mystery to me why that doesn't happen.

Bob Russell · 11-06-2006, 04:28 PM

I think I'm finishing my third Connect e-book, and have been fortunate that the quality is good. The thing that surprised me was that the small text seems to be microscopic on some books, so I end up reading from the large size text.]

I wonder if maybe it's the older books with the most errors, which might have been OCR'd. The newer books from major publishers should have electronic XML versions, anyway, that go to third party conversion houses. I'd be surprised if those have wording issues. Maybe images or layout problems might remain, but at least it shouldn't look like bad OCR.

Laurens · 11-06-2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

I think I'm finishing my third Connect e-book, and have been fortunate that the quality is good. The thing that surprised me was that the small text seems to be microscopic on some books, so I end up reading from the large size text.]

Yeah, I find the small text kind of bizarre. Since you can change the text size anyway, why not let people decide exactly which font and size to use?

BuddyBoy · 11-06-2006, 07:03 PM

Most of the errors I'm seeing are likethis or lik ethis.

NatCh · 11-06-2006, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurens

Yeah, I find the small text kind of bizarre.

It seems to me somebody might have mentioned at the Blogger's Day thing that they were having to get after the text suppliers to bump the text sizes up, but I didn't note it down at the time, and I'm working with 2 month old memories now.

Peregrine · 11-07-2006, 04:22 AM

I'm still reading my first Connect book, Imperium by Robert Harris, very good by the way, but I haven't seen any errors, I guess I just got lucky. I also noticed that the small font is very tiny, but the medium size, at least on this book, is perfect for me.

aleks · 11-07-2006, 06:13 PM

Sony Connect replied to my complaint regarding errors that I found and reported to them. Their response was that they do not proof read but that that is the responsibility of the publisher. I can see their point as there are quite a few books on their site.

NatCh · 11-07-2006, 10:38 PM

That does give us an answer as to where the errors originate, at least.

yvanleterrible · 11-08-2006, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

I think I'm finishing my third Connect e-book, and have been fortunate that the quality is good. The thing that surprised me was that the small text seems to be microscopic on some books, so I end up reading from the large size text.]

I wonder if maybe it's the older books with the most errors, which might have been OCR'd. The newer books from major publishers should have electronic XML versions, anyway, that go to third party conversion houses. I'd be surprised if those have wording issues. Maybe images or layout problems might remain, but at least it shouldn't look like bad OCR.

Since the Connect books come in BBeB, can you make changes to the documents? Has anyone tried to open a document with other software, or does the DRM prevent that?

11-05-2006, 02:57 PM	#1
aleks Connoisseur Posts: 89 Karma: 205 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Upstate NY Device: Rocket eBook & Sony Reader	Errors in eBook Texts at Connect Store Hello all. In one of the threads I read about how some of the readers have found errors in the text of ebooks that are being sold by Connect. I encountered this when I read Always Faithful by William Putney. I sent a note to the Connect store as well as the publisher expressing my concern over the lack of quality control of the product being sold. I recommend that if you encounter errors that you do the same and thus we may improve the reading quality. If nothing else we will demonstrate that we readers of ebooks do have a voice and that we are interested in the quality of the product that we are being asked to pay for. Aleks

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11-06-2006, 10:29 AM	#3
airlik Connoisseur Posts: 76 Karma: 15 Join Date: Oct 2006 Device: Sony Reader	I grabbed a few books from the Connect store over the weekend, haven't started on them yet... but are they that much worse than normal printed books? I almost always find typographical errors in printed books, some books being worse than others.

11-06-2006, 10:39 AM	#4
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Didn't notice any glaring errors in mine so far (I've only read four though). Maybe we should check if it's specific to some publishers? My (good) books were from Yearling (Random House) and Spectra (Random House).

11-06-2006, 11:56 AM	#5
aleks Connoisseur Posts: 89 Karma: 205 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Upstate NY Device: Rocket eBook & Sony Reader	The errors I found did not disabuse me of my love of the PRS500. It just irratates the heck out of me that they charge so much for an ebook that they surely can afford the time to proofread the converted document. They would not put a pbook on the street with these type of errors! If they do not care to provide quality control then offer a deeper discount on the ebooks.

11-06-2006, 03:44 PM	#6
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	I've gotten through one and started another, and not noted any errors (I've had other things in line to read, you see ). I think I heard that some e-text generating services are better about this sort of thing than others. The thing that makes my head itch is that when the book is electronic right up until it's printed on the paper, there has to be an error free e-version of it somewhere, or the paper copies would be just as bad as the flawed electronic ones. So it seems to me that the pubs ought to just provide a fully proofed text for conversion to whatever format and get out of the way. Mystery to me why that doesn't happen.

11-06-2006, 04:28 PM	#7
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I think I'm finishing my third Connect e-book, and have been fortunate that the quality is good. The thing that surprised me was that the small text seems to be microscopic on some books, so I end up reading from the large size text.] I wonder if maybe it's the older books with the most errors, which might have been OCR'd. The newer books from major publishers should have electronic XML versions, anyway, that go to third party conversion houses. I'd be surprised if those have wording issues. Maybe images or layout problems might remain, but at least it shouldn't look like bad OCR.

11-06-2006, 07:03 PM	#9
BuddyBoy eBookin' Fool Posts: 310 Karma: 1008360 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, KK, iPad (Ex Prs 505, 500, Reb1100-2150, Rocket)	Most of the errors I'm seeing are likethis or lik ethis.

11-07-2006, 04:22 AM	#11
Peregrine Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Cary, NC Device: iPad	I'm still reading my first Connect book, Imperium by Robert Harris, very good by the way, but I haven't seen any errors, I guess I just got lucky. I also noticed that the small font is very tiny, but the medium size, at least on this book, is perfect for me.

11-07-2006, 06:13 PM	#12
aleks Connoisseur Posts: 89 Karma: 205 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Upstate NY Device: Rocket eBook & Sony Reader	Sony Connect replied to my complaint regarding errors that I found and reported to them. Their response was that they do not proof read but that that is the responsibility of the publisher. I can see their point as there are quite a few books on their site.

11-07-2006, 10:38 PM	#13
NatCh Gizmologist Posts: 11,615 Karma: 929550 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Republic of Texas Embassy at Jackson, TN Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3	That does give us an answer as to where the errors originate, at least.

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