I am now in a cybercafe trying to install EBL on a WinXP machine.

I haven’t had trouble to that degree. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is that EBL doesn’t get along with PowerPC macs. I honestly don’t know what to tell you, though.

I think your only option is to go wading into the swamp of Sony support. Good luck.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

I believe this is the latest 505 firmware, which is the one I have.

The issue with Digital Editions is just the way it is, and the problems with eBook Library are there whether or not the Reader is plugged in.

As far as those EBL problems, I didn’t ask any Sony reps about the crashiness. I guess I kind of assumed they wouldn’t tell me much, because they’ve never told me much about problems I’ve had with their stuff.

The upshot of all this is that I mostly read books, so I only need to use EBL once a month, if even that. While it’s not great, it’s definitely usable to get books on your Reader. If I wanted RSS feeds or newspapers, or stories, or anything else that required using EBL more frequently, I would be shopping for a new ereader.

Unfortunately, that’s where I’m going to have to leave it for a while. I’m leaving the country in a few days, and won’t be able to tangle with Sony before I get back.

If you’re in the market, I still think Sony’s best for book readers, and if I wanted newspapers I would probably get a used Kindle 1. I’m not convinced anybody does RSS feeds on an ereader satisfactorily, though.

Have you tried calling up Sony, telling them it’s crashing and asking them what to do?

–Sam

It’s frustratingly clear that neither Adobe nor Sony have any interest in taking the lead on this.

If I had to guess then, I’d say that new Sony Readers (the 300 and 600) with new firmware won’t need ADE at all. But if you want to register an older model on a Mac, you’ll need it to already be registered with Adobe, which requires a PC.

I’m still trying to get a straight answer out of Sony, but I haven’t been able to yet.

Other than that, how do you like the software? Even aside from the Reader issue, I couldn’t stand the program because it was too crashy.

Nico

I just wanted to let you know that you’re still misinformed about the Mac software’s capabilities. I received my Sony Reader Touch Edition (PRS-600) today and the only software I’ve installed on my iMac (running Mac OS 10.6) was the Sony eBookLibrary package. I’ve downloaded and loaded up an Overdrive/Adobe-DRMed eBook from the Chicago Public Library’s collection and authorized my Reader with no hassle at all (no need for a Windows machine or ADE software at all).

EBL also detected, downloaded, and applied a firmware update for the Reader as soon as I plugged it in. Mac compatibility seems perfectly fine – guess I’m lucky I waited until this week to take the eReader plunge.

Cheers,
Michael

You’re absolutely right, EBL takes control of the Adobe DRM. But it seems like you still need to have ADE installed to make this work, and Mac users will have to fins a Windows machine to register their Reader on before it will work with Adobe DRMed content.

That’s a sizable annoyance, but not quite unusable like I first thought.

Sorry for my confusion, and thanks a lot for the tip.
Nico