Open Letter to Bookmate Service

    Good afternoon.
    First, I want to say that I really like your application . It is really cool and embodies the dreams and desires of many people.
    I actually admire people who are capable of such a thing - to take something that few people believe in and to realize it at a serious level. It is just wonderful and amazing. It is commendable.

    Today I am writing to you about your Android application. It is wonderful. I really like the fonts you selected and its general aesthetics.
    Very good, but what’s good there - it’s just wonderful that you didn’t go about the usability of the functional. That is why your application is one of the most beautiful readers on android of all that I have seen.
    And in order that you could make it even better, I will write a short review, from which you may take something.
    For the sake of simplicity, I will try to meet three points: “Less is better than more, but worse than“ just right ”,“ General logic of use ”and“ Sociality - there is soup, give a spoon! ”


    Less is better than more, but worse than just right.



    I repeat once again - you are just fine fellows that having, as an example, such “monsters” in the world of mobile reading like FBreader or AlReader made a minimum of functions. This is great and gives you people who have their own point of view and are able to adhere to it, no matter what.
    But there are things that we, fans of reading on mobile devices, use every day.
    One of the canonical examples is screen brightness control: many people read night and day, in the subway and on the street, at home and at work, alternately. That is, in such conditions in which different screen brightness is needed. Even when I'm standing on the street, there is often a need to increase (or decrease) the brightness of the backlight depending on the battery and lighting.
    You have it implemented by changing the background color - this is excellent and convenient. But the ability to change the brightness of the backlight is extremely lacking. This is a real problem - yesterday I was driving home, I decided to read a book and set the brightness for about a minute. A minute - not a lot - but this is an inconvenience that can be avoided by small forces. I looked at the reviews - a lot of people ask you about this - maybe it's worth it?
    It’s also extremely strange for me to observe that after I click on the bookmate shortcut on the desktop of my smartphone, I get to the book selection menu, and not to the book itself.
    Considering that both the application and the book do not load instantly, this is a problem. After all, most people read one book from a phone. They stop reading it when the mail comes to them or it is time for them to get out of the subway car and want to continue reading at any time. And the waiting time before downloading makes reading not so convenient, because when a person wants to read a book, he will still have to wait for the application to download and then select a book to read it, and then wait again. Long.
    This is not a habit that can be abandoned - it is convenience and logic.
    Considering the fact that the application is large enough for the Android system to “kill” it when downloading almost any other application (on Hero, Wildfire, Galaxy5500,5600,5800 - checked by friends), this grows into a real problem. Make the opening of the last read book by default and you will win.

    Still, work with dictionaries-translators would be relevant for me, but this is a special case and is just an excellent example of additional functionality that is not important.

    Universal usage logic.



    In fact, it amazes me that with such a powerful feature in your hands as synchronizing books on all devices you practically do not use it. For example, an excellent accent would be the ability to leave bookmarks and notes in books for later viewing on a monitor screen.
    This is a real killer feature that unlocks the reading potential of multiple devices. After all, many do not understand - what is the use of reading a book from both the phone and the computer, if you can read on the phone and leave notes or bookmarks for later viewing on the computer using dropbox (this is implemented in CoolReader).
    But in CoolReader, this is done with a crutch and many people find it inconvenient to use it, while you have all the trump cards on hand. And this can fundamentally change a person’s argumentation - after all, every person asks something before buying: “Why do I need this?” And by answering this question you increase the chances of acquiring a paid subscription.
    I want to read books and be able to bookmark in an interesting place so that I can later read it to my friends or use the material. Do not forget that people who read a lot - want to use it somehow, so that it would not be a simple burning of time.
    This can be a matter of pride or an excuse: "I read for a reason, I do the reading work, all that I read, I can then use in my work or in my book or elsewhere." In any case, even if someone does not need it and they will rarely use it - this will be another good reason for choosing a service and buying an account.

    Sociality: eat soup, give a spoon!



    Tell me, do people like to write all kinds of garbage about their life? Will people write that they went to dinner, shook green or saw a new movie? It seems to me that the success of twitter, facebook and even vkontakte is the answer to this question. Now tell me - will people want to brag about having read some book? Or that they started to read some book? Or that they liked a quote from a book?
    Everyone wants to be known as intellectuals. Everyone wants to stand out from the crowd.
    Give them the opportunity to do this in one click and they will be the best advertising of your service.
    Just look how great this phrase would look:

    “I started reading a new book: ReWork, Business Without Prejudice .”


    How do you like this?

    ““ There is common sense: if crime is inevitable, then at least be organized ”: Terry Pratchet,“ To arms! To arms! ””


    Great, right? Personally, I already wanted to follow the link and read a book in which there is such a wonderful and witty phrase.
    In addition, other people will be able to write in the comments on the VKontakte phrase: “Great, I also read this book” or “I read it now, really like it”, and the third one will see this, follow the link and buy a subscription. After all, reviews were left by his friends. And he does not want to be worse. He wants to say at the next meeting: “I read this book and I also liked it very much”

    He did not want to read this book before he saw the message and did not even think about buying a subscription. After all, he did not know that there was such a service. And you, with the help of his friends, advertised yourself to him.
    Give people the opportunity to arrange a srach because of the commentary or evaluation of the book and they will be grateful to you. People like to throw poop at each other proving their expert opinion. Habrahabr, by the way, a vivid example of it :)
    No offense,% username%


    Give people the opportunity to be your advertisement and believe me - they will be your advertisement, paying you extra for this. Everyone wants to be a little special, not like everyone else. Everyone wants to show their individuality, advancement, relative to others. Give people the opportunity to express themselves using your service. Focus on this and you will be surprised at the number of purchases.

    -
    Regards, Vsevolod.

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