I think you may have a point there. As much as companies that are pushing these devices would like to think that folks would like audio playback, wireless this-or-that, web access, or any number of add-ons, your average consumer is just looking for an e-book ("like Oprah was talking about"). Give it a non-glossy screen, no bells and whistles, easy software, local library access, and a reasonable price and you've got a winner.

Sean O, you sound like the guys who questioned the viability of the first MP3 players. "Who would want to carry around several albums at a time? Just bring a couple of extra discs!"

Apparently, a lot of people liked the idea of having all of their content with them at all times. And E-readers may not be for you, but they're fantastic for a lot of folks out there.

http://www.transferjet.org/en/about_cons/index.html

Look at the list of companies supporting this. I think Sony has finally learned that they can't come up with new "standards" and then just go at it alone.

The technology sounds pretty cool, and if it starts getting integrated into Memory Sticks, SD cards, and other things like that, this could really take off.

Haven't Doritos and Best Buy (and probably others) done this already? I remember getting a bag of chips that you could do the same thing with, and BBY had a flyer with something similar. It's cool for about a minute, but otherwise not exactly the augmented reality experience you're probably expecting. But, as someone said above, you've gotta start somewhere.

Yeah, but don't forget CDs, 3.5" floppy disks, Betacam and its variants, S/PDIF, AVCHD, Blu-ray and the other evil Sony formats that worked.

Sony can be easy to pick on, but don't get side-tracked. These big companies are coming up with a new standard. It's not just Sony trying to push their weight around as they have done in the past.

It's interesting that Sony is more and more partnering with Google to use their software and resources. In the past, that was the problem: Sony could make (arguably) some of the best hardware around, in many different categories, but the whole thing would be crippled by lousy software, or a bad UI at least. Hopefully developments like this Chrome deal, the eBook tie-ins, and Android for Sony Ericsson and the Walkman are signs that Sony isn't afraid to start outsourcing the stuff they frankly aren't good at, so that they can focus on engineering and design, where they're usually pretty solid.

Has anyone seen the brown boxes these things ship in? There's one orange label stating that it can't be sold until Sept. 1, and then there's another sticker saying something to the effect of "Street date does not apply to this product." Is that Sony's way of manufacturing a shortage? You know, let everybody sell them for a week ahead of the actual launch to let the first shipments dry out by September. Perhaps?

If it's like any other Sony picture frame you can turn the logo off. It's likely lit-up in a similar fashion to the logos on some of Sony's (and other's) TVs.

No shit. Is it just me, or did the whole mentality of the PlayStation brand change when the PS3 came out? From the logo, to the branding, to advertising, everything was such a radical departure from the very successful PS2 era. I've thought the PS3 was a fantastic machine from day one, but why did it take Sony nearly three years to decide to get that across?

You'd think you'd want to push the "It Does Everything" idea when the thing was $600. Well, better late than never I suppose.

I could be wrong, but any blister-pack or clamshell plastic packaging I've run into is usually easily opened by cutting around the edge of the product with scissors. Don't stab at the shiny item in the middle like an overly excited monkey -- read the opening instructions. Is it really that hard?