How to add a book to your Kobo Aura HD in just 36 steps (Or, Why Amazon is Still Winning the eBook Market)

11.08.2013 Nate Hoffelder No Comments

As much as everyone likes to bash Amazon for supposedly selling ebooks below the point anyone else can match, that’s not the only reason that Amazon continues to dominate the ebook market. In fact, it’s not even the leading reason for Amazon’s success, which is:

Amazon’s tech just works.

I was reminded of this today when I came across a post by Matt Asher. He blogged about his frustrations with Kobo and how much of a pain it was to buy an ebook and load it on to the Kobo Aura HD.

Anyone who has used Kobo’s ereaders knows exactly what he has gone through, especially the middle section. Steps 14, 17, 18, 23-26 inclusive, and step 29 are painfully familiar to this blogger:

14. Figure out that you need to use their software to download the book, which you already have installed because the Kobo required that it be installed just to begin using the ereader when you first purchased it.
15. Connect the ereader to your computer.
16. Start the Kobo software.
17. When the Kobo software demands to be upgraded (not suggests,  demands), do an upgrade.
18. Try the upgrade again after it appears to fail on the first try.
19. Once Kobo software is back up and running, log out of your old  Kobo account since that one used an anonymous spam-catching email because there was no reason why you would want Indigo Inc. to know all your books and reading habits.
20. Still in the Kobo software, log in to the new account you created to purchase the book.
21. Read with incredulity as Kobo informs you that you will loose all existing books on your Kobo Aura HD once you sign in with this new account.
22. Backup all your ebooks just in case it really does this.
23. Click Accept.
24. Sign in to confirm that you accept this.
25. Sign in again when the same message pops up.
26. Wait impatiently while the Kobo takes a long time updating, showing the sequence of square progress indicators fill and unfill over and over. (Note to whoever programmed this, a sequence of progress markers should give an indication of how close you are to the end of the process, otherwise you should just show a spinning thing that indicated the operation is in proccess, but it could still take an undetermined amount of time.)
27. Optional: get upset with yourself for not returning this damned device before the return period ended, especially since its software is absolute crap for reading PDF’s, that is to say the format of most ebooks you already have on your computer.
28. When the Kobo is finally done updating, unplug the device to see if it really did clean off all of your books.
29. Go through the whole setup procedure for the Aura HD again, because apparently it not only deleted your old books, it did a full format/reset.

The thing about this list is that it details user experience problems that Kobo has inflicted upon readers with their first apps and ereaders and which are still present to this very day.

Ask anyone who has dealt with Kobo and they will tell you that this list is quite familiar. I can attest to that just from my own experiences.

Every time I buy a Kobo ereader, and this has happened every time without fail, I have had to go through the same 11 steps before I can use the ereader for the first time:

1. Set up Wifi.
2. Register my account.
3. When the ereader demands to be upgraded (not suggests,  demands), do an upgrade.
4. Try the upgrade again after it appears to fail on the first try.
5. Reboot.
6. Set up Wifi.
7. Register my account.
8. When the ereader demands to be upgraded AGAIN (not suggests,  demands), do an upgrade.
9. Reboot.
10. Set up Wifi.
11. Register my account.

I can understand Kobo demanding that I install an update, okay. That demonstrates a lack of respect for the user but I can understand the desire to have the latest software installed.

What I can’t understand is why Kobo can’t be bothered to keep the Wifi and account info rather than wiping it during an update. Amazon certainly seems to be able to pull it off; what makes them so special?

Heck, Amazon is so good that they can install an update without my even noticing. My KFHD was updated to the latest firmware without any fuss, which is exactly how it’s supposed to happen. Buying ebooks are also a heck of a lot easier via Amazon than via Kobo. That has been true since the very beginning.

Perhaps if Kobo didn’t have such a terrible user experience, maybe they wouldn’t be in 5th or 6th place in so many markets.

Say what you will about Amazon, but their stuff works.