01-15-2013, 10:12 PM | #16 | |
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However I strongly believe that in the case of ebooks we have been stuck in a corner by the fact that there are so many technical issues revolving around them, that mean that unless your only usage is to put the book straight onto the device from purchase to read it you are forced into a learning curve. And I don't think people should be criticised for not wanting to take on that curve, it just means that calibre is not the solution for them, at this point anyway. We all have only so many hours in the day (or as we get older so many things we can remember!) so we pick and choose what things we deep dive on. Obviously the hardcore calibre fans have chosen this app as one to spend countless hours on wrestling to grips with, which is great for them. However there are the other 99% of people out there who read a lot of books who may choose not to take that on. Just like I know nothing about how a car works, or gardening or whatever - we all pick and choose what things are of interest. That people who read ebooks "should" have an easier way I don't disagree with at all, and right now it seems the only option for them is to stay within the vendor specific and closed ecosystems. Which is not what calibre is competing with of course. |
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01-16-2013, 12:18 AM | #17 | |
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Dammit. I knew this was going to end up in here. Calibre should never have a "book shelf" view. That is a data-poor UI, and the only people who like stuff like that are those who only have < 10 ebooks (or however many fit on 1 page of your chosen display). Faux-wood or not, it's always better to display the book/author name than just a 60x60 (or whatever) book cover thumbnail.
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That said, here are two suggestions:
Obviously those options require you having the ability to write this kind of software. So if that's not the case there's always option 3: Send Kovid a sizable donation (I'd suggest something in the ~$50,000+ range) and then ask him to make some special changes for you. I doubt you'll be able to buy him off, but you can try and I'm sure he'd appreciate the donation. |
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01-16-2013, 03:05 AM | #18 | |
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You can disable update notifications in Settings > Behaviour. Perhaps there could be another option "Tell me when my version of calibre is obsolete" so that at least this is shown when notifications are off. |
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01-16-2013, 03:15 AM | #19 |
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I too find the update cycle a giant plus.
Turning off notifications just disables the pop-up, you still get the line at the bottom of calibre telling you a new version is available. |
01-16-2013, 05:30 AM | #20 |
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I am with Toddos
Face out /Face up, book shelves is: 1) a SELLING tool (I also ran a bookstore sometime in my life ) 2) only used in Real Libraries(tm) for the 'featured/New Titles area You wouldn't do this with very many deqd tree book (Ikea does sell lots of 'Billy' in my area) I do occasionally use the cover browser and find t approximates a loosely filled shelf (where you peek into the gap as you move books) |
01-16-2013, 06:45 AM | #21 |
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I disagree in one circumstance with the book cover comments made so far. Sometimes, when trying to re-locate a forgotten book, you remember a book's cover and not it's title or author. In such a case a multiple, non-animated, book cover display would be quicker.
Mind, I'm not expecting it to be implemented... |
01-16-2013, 09:25 AM | #22 | |
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01-16-2013, 09:46 AM | #23 |
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The key word was Non-animated.
+1 for a toggle to turn that off. Simple slidshow mode I like the edge book to show, as the colors do jog the old brain. The blue one, next to the Fish) and the Reflection: I have never seen a bookshelf shined up to that level. Maybe I need the Dust and cat fur option to make it more realistic ) Last edited by theducks; 01-16-2013 at 09:48 AM. Reason: comment |
01-17-2013, 06:44 AM | #24 |
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From my perspective, the answer is no. Because, as TheDucks mentions, the cover browser is animated, has the unnecessary reflection and only shows a single book at a time.
However, the cover browser does provide a "bare minimum" equivalent to the idea. Just consider how annoying, time consuming and wearying it would be to try and search through a calibre library of a thousand books, one cover at a time. And many calibre users have libraries far larger than 1,000 books. |
01-17-2013, 08:26 AM | #25 | ||
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58K here |
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01-17-2013, 01:53 PM | #26 | |
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Calibre was invented by a techie and (in my opinion) designed for technically literate users. As for the comment that there are 13M users so it can't be hard to use--as you (and others) have asked, how many are active users? And on the whole planet, how big is an audience of 13M really? Apple sells 13M iPhones every month. I think Calibre is a fabulous tool. I use it every day and I have contributed hundreds of hours to its development--fixing issues with MOBI formatting and developing and maintaining periodical recipes. However, I am a technically sophisticated user. Everyone in my circle who has a normal, pedestrian degree of computer literacy (e.g., one of the 13M/month iPhone purchasers) who I have introduced to Calibre has said "oh, that's nice" and put it aside. Active Calibre users will always be technically inclined by necessity. One day, e-reader companies and e-publishers will realize that making their e-book environments walled gardens via format and DRM is holding the market back. When that day comes I'll be able to manage e-books much like I manage photos on my various computers and devices--I won't have to worry about formats and DRM, and I'll be able to move them around just like files. Right-click on an e-book and I'll get a properties window with all the meta-information (just like with photos). I'll be able to load any of the mainstream formats on all of my devices--MOBIs on my iPad (without having to use the iPad Kindle app), ePubs on my Kindle Fire, etc. I'll have a right-click "Send to..." menu to deliver the e-book to whatever e-reader device is on the air or plugged in. Until this utopian vision of the future arrives, it's Calibre for the technically literate and the walled gardens for the other 99.9% of the population. |
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01-17-2013, 07:11 PM | #27 | ||
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Another, somewhat related issue, is the tech level of the user manual. Almost all good programmers are terrible writer's/instructors; they're simply too knowledgeable within their field (in general) and too close to the software (specifically) to effectively write instructions for the average user. Most users will never understand the hardware or software processes and limitations; those few that have some knowledge will have an oversimplified understanding of things. Once you get past that, you still have linguistic barriers - no two people will read and comprehend a page of text and arrive at the same understanding. I also agree with your supposition (without any factual proof available to either of us) that the abandonment rate of calibre is probably quite high. Additionally, I suspect that there are a high number of "repeat new installers" within the download numbers cited. Having uninstalled calibre, I imagine the unique ID from that installation also ceases to exist (rightly so - tracking should not be necessary). So repeating the install process only shows up as a new user rather than a repeat installation - thus skewing the numbers. Finally, in defense of those who answer questions and provide comments to users in the forums... Dealing with customers or clients is never easy. It requires a phenomenal amount of patience - more than anyone has on a 24/7/365 basis. So if sometimes the response is brief, sounds rude, or dismissive-it might be. But it might also be the Nth time the responder has answered that exact same question this day, week, month, or year. Last edited by Sabardeyn; 01-17-2013 at 07:13 PM. |
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01-17-2013, 08:06 PM | #28 | |||||
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01-17-2013, 08:11 PM | #29 | |
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01-17-2013, 08:15 PM | #30 |
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