My mother’s birthday is July 7th. (Happy Birthday, Mom!) Every year, I buy her an Amazon gift certificate. My mother LOVES to read, and could open a library with the amount of books she has. But a few months ago, she switched to a Sony eBook reader, and so she asked me to buy her a gift certificate for the Sony eBook store for her birthday instead.

I went to the gifts page (which was hard to find — there’s a tiny “gifts” link at the bottom of the eBook store page) and saw that they indeed had gift certificates. As I glanced over the page, I saw links to download the software, but assumed that was for someone who was redeeming a gift certificate, not purchasing one. I tried, in vain, to click on the dollar amounts in the gift certificate section and the eBook gifts banner below it. Nothing. So I read the page again, and was surprised to discover that I had to download software just to buy a gift certificate.

That just seemed unnecessary and wrong to me, but still, I pressed on. I clicked on the download link and was greeted with the system requirements for the software. Windows XP and Windows Vista only. I have a Mac.

Ugh. I’m trying to give Sony my money, and trying to make my mom’s day by giving her a gift she asked for. And Sony’s eBook store throws up roadblocks at every opportunity. So instead, I’ll just send her some money to do with what she wants. Maybe I should buy her a Kindle instead. At least I know that I can buy Amazon gift certificates for it.