Page Number Display on Kindle Paperwhite?

[l_macd]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This is incorrect. The "vast majority of other readers" are ePub devices which use ADE to display books. ADE's page numbers are a count of 1024 characters in the compressed file, which typically means that the same page number is displayed for several screens on the reader.

Yes I've noticed that on my PRS 350, "page 62" or "page 62-63" and they can both last a few pages. I find it a little off-putting, not too fussed with the locations either, the percentage is good - except of course when, as BeccaPrice mentions, you get footnotes for the last 20% of the book! I prefer the progress bar along the bottom of my Kindle Keyboard, but even that's useless when the book isn't properly/fully formatted.

Just goes to show that no solution is perfect, and no single one will keep everyone happy.

[Katsunami]

If iI remember correctly, my old Cybook Gen3 short showed screens to read. That would be my preference. One screen, one page. And I like it to be displayed continuously.

Kacir: I couldn't agree more. While I like the Kindle for its screen (mine at least), there are readers with quite some extra options, but they don't have a front light, it's not as good as the Kindle (such as the Nook), or the reader has software problems (Kobo).

For now, it'll be a Kindle because of the screen and stability.

[zamana]

Originally Posted by l_macd

(...)
Just goes to show that no solution is perfect, and no single one will keep everyone happy.

As everything else in life...

[l_macd]

Ha, so true zamana

[vxf]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Just goes to show that no solution is perfect, and no single one will keep everyone happy.

But I'd say... doesn't that argue for giving users options?
I am not saying they should get rid of locations. Just give us the option to switch to page numbers...

And yes, I had a feeling someone would post saying they like this 'location' thing. I don't get it. The only use I have for location is to compute a percentage. Because I have no clue how much is 10,000 locations. So it does not give me an indication of book length.

By the way.... ignorant question... how are locations computed? Some character count?

[aikiboy]

Glad I found this forum. Just got my Paperwhite a couple days ago and thought I must be an idiot because I couldn't find page numbers or a way to turn them on. I find them useful and, since I've used them all my life, it seems kind of strange not to have them. My Nook shows them every time, so the Kindle was a puzzle. Guess every provider has it's quirks. Perhaps Amazon should reconsider not providing them at on the reading screen.

How do I go about adding Cool Reader, and might it void the warranty?

[l_macd]

I guess the option to have page numbers would be nice.... but then again, one of the reasons I haven't upgraded to the PW is because Amazon won't offer me the option of a lighted reader with page turn buttons. So yes, give us options, but it'll still be almost impossible to please us all!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by vxf

But I'd say... doesn't that argue for giving users options?
I am not saying they should get rid of locations. Just give us the option to switch to page numbers...

And yes, I had a feeling someone would post saying they like this 'location' thing. I don't get it. The only use I have for location is to compute a percentage. Because I have no clue how much is 10,000 locations. So it does not give me an indication of book length.

By the way.... ignorant question... how are locations computed? Some character count?

Locations are a count of 128 characters - ie, 8 locations = 1k. Their primary value is in referring to a particular position in a book. But yes, I'm all in favour of choices.

[DiapDealer]

Never saw the point of having a page number that stays the same for multiple screen changes.

And outside of academia, I have absolutely zero need to know what page number I'm on in an edition of the book that I'm NOT currently reading.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This is incorrect. The "vast majority of other readers" are ePub devices which use ADE to display books. ADE's page numbers are a count of 1024 characters in the compressed file, which typically means that the same page number is displayed for several screens on the reader.

Yes, Harry, you are right, as usual.

Now that I think about it, the Amazon implementation of page numbers (locations) might not as bad, if you had to put up with the "Adobe" page numbering system ;-)
Page numbers in epub books was one of reasons I avoided the default epub reading application on PocketBook (the one that implemented ADE)

Ever since I wrote my (not entirely correct) rant about page numbers I was thinking about my motivation to buy Kindle.

Besides the reasons I listed in my original post, one of reasons why I bought the Paperwhite was that I thought I would get used to the "kindle" way of presenting books. *SO* many people - including you Harry - are happy with the way Amazon displays the books on their newer e-ink devices. So I thought that I would just need to get used to that. I thought that after reading of couple of thousand "pages" on the device with the default settings I will settle down and will cease to be annoyed by the layout. It didn't work ;-)

[mjt57]

Looks like I started a rather lively thread.

In any case, thanks for the contributions, particularly the ones about popping up the menu to display the page numbers...

It's no big deal. I could never really get used to the Kindle DX's displaying "location 2033-2044 of 3400". I'd have to do some mental arithmetic when flipping pages to get an idea of where I was in the book. But the PPW's estimate on time left in chapter or book is a handy one.

Thanks again, folks.