[Device Plugin] Kobo Touch Extended Driver

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by jgoguen

Windows XP should be long-dead by now.

But it was such a well working Windows version. I liked it much more than Vista. And I think Vista made a lot of people keeping away as far as possible from new Windows versions.

Okay, Vista was not as bad as Windows ME. Geez, I'm old...

(Not to mention that I've started using Windows with something around 3.X. )

[jgoguen]

I remember using Win3.1 when it was new. And browsing the Internet using Gopher. I'm not that old :P

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by jgoguen

I remember using Win3.1 when it was new. And browsing the Internet using Gopher. I'm not that old :P

Nah, me neither... I'm not that old.

Well... I'm not sure if it was 3.1 or 3.11 and I learned DOS in school. Can't remember the first browser I've used, though. I think it was Netscape. Yes, it was, it had that steering wheel.

[meeera]

I remember getting my first tape drive for my ZX-81. No more re-typing programmes all the time!

Meeera "1 kB of memory should be enough for anyone"

[PeterT]

How about the Sinclair programmable calculator... I had one with its 5 or 6 digit display.

[jgoguen]

So I can re-enable statistics for side-loaded KePubs, but doing so creates an unhealthy "us versus them" situation.

As part of their normal sync operation, the Kobo wireless and Kobo Desktop sync operations will remove any book that it thinks would not be synced to the device. There's no way I've found to disable that behaviour, but it's also a perfectly reasonable thing to do. What happens to the side-loaded KePubs during the sync? The files are deleted from the Kobo device. If you have the setting to show all of your purchased books, they will remain in the library list but they become "download this book" entries which cause problems if you actually try to download them (because there's no Kobo book with that UUID), or if you only show books on the device they're removed from the Library view.

To have in-book reading stats for side-loaded KePubs, you therefore must (while you have side-loaded KePub files anyway) disable wireless on your device, never turn it back on, and never again use the Kobo Desktop software. Firmware updates either need to be side-loaded manually (although I bet I could write a calibre plugin to get them...), done when you have no side-loaded KePub files on the device, or done anytime over wireless or Kobo Desktop and then you would have to delete and re-send all your side-loaded KePub files.

As someone who never purchases books from Kobo anymore (I've found cheaper and/or better quality books elsewhere almost every time) this causes me personally no grief aside from how much time was wasted because Kobo would rather spend developer time breaking side-loaded files instead of fixing real bugs. But I know there are people who purchase books from Kobo, and this would cause extra effort in getting your purchases onto the device and may (because we don't fully understand the KePub structure) not be the same quality book you purchased.

I'd like to hear from you all with your opinions on whether you think side-loaded KePub stats are a good idea now that you know the issues. I'd also like to know if this makes you more likely to purchase Kobo books (and less likely to use this plugin) or more likely to purchase books from non-Kobo retailers and use this plugin for KePub features. Even if someone has already posted with your exact opinion; if only one person says it, I don't see all the others who agree. That said, please try to avoid a "me too" post; seeing an opinion sticks out more for me than seeing a quote and a "yea, what they said" post.

If anyone feels the need to contact Kobo about this, please remember to be polite, remember that this is third-party code that they have no obligation (and no ability) to support, and part of Kobo's job is to encourage people to buy more Kobo books.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by jgoguen

I'd like to hear from you all with your opinions on whether you think side-loaded KePub stats are a good idea now that you know the issues. I'd also like to know if this makes you more likely to purchase Kobo books (and less likely to use this plugin) or more likely to purchase books from non-Kobo retailers and use this plugin for KePub features.

It doesn't make it more or less likely for me to buy from Kobo and not less likely to use the plugin either.

But I don't know why Kobo took time to break a feature that was working well with sideloaded KePubs. Breaking that surely doesn't make more people buy from Kobo - rather the contrary might be the case or it might have no effect at all. But I don't see people running to Kobo and spend the money they've already spent for a certain book again just to get the stats displayed. It's a nice to have feature but it's not like I can't read my books without Kobo telling me that I will need 9 minutes to finish that chapter (which is only approximately anyways...)

Kobo could have spent the time for things that make reading more comfortable (e.g. offering tap zones like Coolreader has or at least more than 3 different tap zone settings) or for fixing bugs.

I really wish they would listen more to their customers - the people they want to spend their money on Kobo products instead of letting some marketing people tell them what they think is a good idea (which quite often is anything but good).

[glos]

I personally refrained from upgrading the firmware exactly because I didn't want to lose the stats, so this is potentially very good for me, there are things in 2.10 I'd like to try.
I only use sideloaded kepubs, don't buy books from kobo and only use their desktop software to upgrade fw. Wifi is always off, though now with pocket wifi seems useful... i guess I won't use it (pocket), np, I prefer to have stats.
It's no big deal if they disappear when wifi/Kdesktop upgrades/whatever, i'll only do that when necessary, and it won't take much to put the books back on.
I don't think it will change the way I buy and transfer my books, everything goes thru calibre.

[arspr]

Possibly because I didn't have statistics in my old Sony, I don't miss them.

There are plenty of other reasons for using (or not) "kepubized" epubs rather than stats (image zooming is one of them, or the default lack or hyphenation another).

But I think that you cannot make strange tricks to get it working and with strange side effects. Remember that probably a lot of users of your plugin are just entry users. You would get tons of "my kepubized books have disappeared" reclaims.

And, as you say, it can also start a "war" against Kobo that doesn't make sense either. Trying to make them reconsider their decision about dropping stats in sideloaded kepubs is far more better. (More over, maybe even making them know about this issue. Maybe it's just a side effect of another really desired code change, and they just didn't think about what happened with unofficial kepubs which aren't their main concern anyway).

[tlaine]

@jgoguen I use the kepub format mainly for the handling of footnotes, the stats aren't important to me. As for buying books from Kobo, not anymore.

[jgoguen]

Originally Posted by arspr

But I think that you cannot make strange tricks to get it working and with strange side effects. Remember that probably a lot of users of your plugin are just entry users. You would get tons of "my kepubized books have disappeared" reclaims.

I think you raise a good point (maybe not the one you intended? ) that I should be asking this in the Kobo forum to catch more Kobo users who may not frequent this thread and who would be more representative of the "average non-technical Kobo reader user" that I really do need input from. I'll throw up a quick post in the Kobo forum. All you folks who've replied can feel free to make your posts there too

[jgoguen]

I've posted an update on this. The TL;DR version is that there's too many problems, I've given a one-time package to allow side-loaded stats, but you're completely on your own if you use it and I recommend you don't.

[93terp]

Originally Posted by glos

I personally refrained from upgrading the firmware exactly because I didn't want to lose the stats, so this is potentially very good for me, there are things in 2.10 I'd like to try.
I only use sideloaded kepubs, don't buy books from kobo and only use their desktop software to upgrade fw. Wifi is always off, though now with pocket wifi seems useful... i guess I won't use it (pocket), np, I prefer to have stats.
It's no big deal if they disappear when wifi/Kdesktop upgrades/whatever, i'll only do that when necessary, and it won't take much to put the books back on.
I don't think it will change the way I buy and transfer my books, everything goes thru calibre.

Ditto for me too!

[iGeorg]

Could anybody please tell me what's new in the just updated PlugIn Version 2.2.12?
Do I have to watch out for something?
Thank you.

Found the answer - sorry.

[pimpsalot69]

any luck on how to set environment variables?