Glo Kobo Software Update 2.5.2

[samhy]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Well not really because that bottom space is part of the advertised 6.8" screen. Not making it available for reading while advertising it as part of the screen size sounds more like a fallacy to me.

Irony inside
The 650 I've bought from Sony has a menu on a black line at the bottom of the screen as all other 650s. However it is advertised as a 6" device. In short, don't trust Sony more than Kobo, right?

[Quexos]

Well it all depends if that black line bothers you or not. If you feel that it uses up the space as you expected then good but if you hoped that space was for reading then don't trust them either I guess
Hope you don't mind my serious answer to your ironic question.

Originally Posted by samhy

Irony inside
The 650 I've bought from Sony has a menu on a black line at the bottom of the screen as all other 650s. However it is advertised as a 6" device. In short, don't trust Sony more than Kobo, right?

[samhy]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Well it all depends if that black line bothers you or not. If you feel that it uses up the space as you expected then good but if you hoped that space was for reading then don't trust them either I guess
Hope you don't mind my serious answer to your ironic question.

@Quexos, I don't mind at all
From the devices displayed in store, I knew that there was going to be a black line. When I bought the Mini, once again from the devices displayed I knew that there was going to be a space (same as on the 650 but not black) just for the menu/page number. I also knew that all the Kobo family was behaving the same way.
Maybe this is why I'm little surprised when I see here people complaining about Kobo's bottom menu. But seeing different point of view helps me understand* how other people feel about their ereaders.
* understand doesn't mean agree
--

@ everyone with a (beloved) Kobo
No one is going to make anyone changes his/her point of view here. I feel as if everyone's ideas regarding the top space, bottom space and screen real estate had been stated loud and clear. No doubt Kobo devs can find all the feedbacks they may be looking for (and much more, I guess ).
Can't we all agree to disagree and try to talk about other things provided or even broken by this update? I've swichted to it this afternoon, so it will be all fresh to me tonight.

Note for the new Kobo users: maybe people were not pleased by the 2.3.x (was it 1 or 2?) update. So they manually downgraded to the previous firmware, sometimes older than the previous one, and when 2.4.0 rolled out they happily updated their Mini/Touch/Glo. That can be a temporary solution for you, can't it?

[evanft]

I just don't see the point in selling a device where one of it's primary features is screen size and then releasing a software update that reduces the amount of screen available for text.

Some of the justifications and excuses in this thread have been absolutely mind boggling.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by evanft

I just don't see the point in selling a device where one of its primary features is screen size and then releasing a software update that reduces the amount of screen available for text.

Some of the justifications and excuses in this thread have been absolutely mind boggling.

This sums it up and I could not agree more.

[samhy]

I don't have an Aura in front of me, so excuse me for the weird question. Isn't the Aura's screen longer and larger? Because by what I can read in this thread, many people complaining of having a bigger device but not seeing much on the screen, I would guess the bigger size is only one way

I am considering buying one when it will be available, but not for the bigger screen (I'm very fine with a 5 inch screen) mostly for the crisper display. Slightly off topic, I know, this one is for a firmware version.

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by samhy

Irony inside
The 650 I've bought from Sony has a menu on a black line at the bottom of the screen as all other 650s. However it is advertised as a 6" device. In short, don't trust Sony more than Kobo, right?

The height of this line on the Sony is a lot less than the page number display in the Kobo, so the Sony is able to display more lines compared to the Kobo. Add in the title bar too, and the Kobo displays even fewer lines compared to the Sony.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by samhy

I am considering buying one when it will be available, but not for the bigger screen (I'm very fine with a 5 inch screen) mostly for the crisper display. Slightly off topic, I know, this one is for a firmware version.

For me the crisper screen (plus the light) means I that I can read at a three degrees smaller font size than on my Touch.

That also means that I have e.g. 48 pages on my Aura and 75 pages on my Touch (61 if the font size is the same).

But really...I don't care much about the amount of text on my screen. I want do read comfortably and would never torture myself with a smaller font sizes just to have more words and lines on my reader.

[Quexos]

Understanding, not necessarily agreeing but acknowledging the other one's point of view, that's what brings progress in the debate.

Originally Posted by samhy

Maybe this is why I'm little surprised when I see here people complaining about Kobo's bottom menu. But seeing different point of view helps me understand* how other people feel about their ereaders.
* understand doesn't mean agree

I most certainly hope they are (the devs I mean). Wait, does that mean that the Kobo devs hang around MR ? Interesting.

Originally Posted by samhy

@ everyone with a (beloved) Kobo
No one is going to make anyone changes his/her point of view here. I feel as if everyone's ideas regarding the top space, bottom space and screen real estate had been stated loud and clear. No doubt Kobo devs can find all the feedbacks they may be looking for

Aha! This time I got the irony from the start ;-)

Originally Posted by samhy

(and much more, I guess ).

Originally Posted by Danger

Or hopefully someone will trying jailbreak the Kobo, or better yet maybe Kobo will actually listen to us and make these displays OPTIONAL!

Kobo's eInk readers are open devices. You are more than welcome to write your own reader software for the device if you so desire. Members of these forums have already provided instructions on installing the tool-chain necessary for developing your own software, how to install your software on the Kobo, as well as providing examples of using various libraries to develop software for the Kobo.

So now that you know that your problem can be solved, hop to it!

Oh wait. That wasn't what you asked for. You actually want someone to develop software that meets your specifications and someone to complain about when it doesn't reflect your every desire.

I've got news for you: it ain't going to happen.

Originally Posted by guitarizt

20% is huge. If you only had 80% of the Aura's 6.8" screen then it makes it 5.44".

The math doesn't work that way. Assuming that you are comparing it to a smaller screen with the aspect ratio the same, the diagonal will change by 2/sqrt(5) or 89.4%. Thus it is equivalent to a 6.08" screen. This is because relationship between areas and linear measures are a bit complex.

[ShellShock]

Are they really open devices? To be truly open surely Kobo would have to provide full system documentation, souce code and tools, rather than the community having to laboriously reverse engineer the devices to provide some limited support for bulding our own add ons etc. I am not arguing for the devices to be more open, as I would prefer to get my support direct from Kobo. This is not to denigrate what members of the community have done with the limited information available.

[mconh]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

So now that you know that your problem can be solved, hop to it!

Oh wait. That wasn't what you asked for. You actually want someone to develop software that meets your specifications and someone to complain about when it doesn't reflect your every desire.

I've got news for you: it ain't going to happen.

This is no different than negative option billing which is outlawed in Ontario in some cases. What makes this Kobo PUSH software worse is that there is not even an option to DECLINE the update.

People with your attitude make the Customer/User the problem and tell them that they have to figure out how to get around the problem no matter how many hoops they have to jump through. And, for most normal users getting around it, is beyond their ability or knowledge.

Kobo should be ashamed of themselves for designing this type of software and customers do not forget this kind of attitude. There should be an accurate change log for the customer to look at and let them decide whether to update the software or not.

That is pretty well standard procedure for all main stream software. And YES I do want someone to develop software that meets NORMAL expectations.

[allovertheglobe]

I'll be honest, I gave up after a few pages of this back & forth about the top (& bottom) margins, valid arguments being made for either.

What I wonder is why this option needs to be tied to a (particular) firmware version. Kobo has provided their readers with advanced, sometimes a bit obscure options like how many pages between fullscreen refreshes, or changing font weight & sharpness. Why can't they just simply add a couple of check boxes to the reading settings to enable/disable the top margin info and the bottom margin info, just like they already have for page numbers in the side margin?

Everybody could have their preference, end of discussion (well, at least about Kobo forcing it one way or another... which one is better can be argued until the cows come home )

Personally, since it's not a physical book, and increased margins do not add girth & weight by needing additional pages, I don't find it to be that much of an issue. On a practical level, it adds an extra page turn every dozen pages or so (depending on font size), and over the course of hundreds and hundreds of pages of the books I tend to read, it doesn't even register as far as I'm concerned.

On the Aura specifically, with its bigger screen and sharper text (making smaller fonts more readable) I especially don't mind a little extra breathing space so much. On the Glo & Mini it might be more annoying.

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by evanft

I just don't see the point in selling a device where one of it's primary features is screen size and then releasing a software update that reduces the amount of screen available for text.

Precisely. Buy an Aura reader because it has a bigger screen...and then a week later watch as the area available for reading is reduced before your very eyes. It does not make any sense to me.