I downloaded Blio — a new ebook reader/store that was promising a superior experience.  While I wasn’t falling for the hyperbole, I did like that it was available for the Windows 7 platform.  Problem:  there’s no matching app for readers; you have to read your shiny ebooks on a computer.

There’s a lot of people that have computers and no reader — this program is for them.  Unfortunately, much like iBooks, there’s not real selection.

I downloaded a couple of free books that caught my eye and was going to use Calibre to transfer them over to the iBooks program on the iPad.  I hadn’t used Calibre for a few months, and was displeased to find the program couldn’t find my iPad with its new iteration.  When I hit the online FAQ, I found that you had to shunt any ebooks set up through Calibre had to go through a proprietary reader on the iPad, rather than the very simple prior system.  I understand that this is to better service other readers, but it’s a pain in the ass — I already have several reader programs and the last thing I need is another app to read a book (especially as it’s in the same bloody format iBooks uses.)

In other words, Calibre and Blio…a duo of FAIL.  Honorable Failure Mention goes to Nook, Barnes and Noble’s reader for iPad.  It crashes more than one of those old three-wheeled Reliants from the 1970s.