Page Numbers on K3 but not on KT

[clen3k]

Okay, so I've just upgraded to a Kindle Touch.

(My Kindle Keyboard 5-way controller stopped working after nearly 2 years of use and I just ordered a KT after no amount of resets did nothing. Funny thing, after I'd already ordered a KT, I contacted Amazon CS to see if they had any tips for my old K3 and they actually offered to replace it for free despite it being a year out of warranty. :P)

So, anyway. I was reading a book on the K3 and it displayed page numbers in addition to the locations. When I registered the KT I downloaded the same book from my archived items to go on reading... only on the KT it doesn't display page numbers.

It's a minor thing... but I was just wondering if it's typical for the KT *not* to display page numbers?

[tomsem]

KT does not display page numbers all of the time like K3. You have to tap at the top of the screen to reveal menu/search/options. Then you will see page numbers at the bottom of the screen (if the book has them defined). Also when you bring up the Go To dialog, it will often show you a navigable table of contents. When there are page numbers, each chapter or section listed in this TOC list will show the page number each begins on.

It seems that the UX people at Amazon like a 'minimalist' design. So KT also does not have the progress bar with the little marks mapping out the distribution of chapter boundaries and bookmarks. Probably they have gotten a lot of support calls over the years from K1/K2/K3 owners wondering why some books have page numbers shown and some don't. Why do some have the little tic marks and why some don't. All books have locations and % complete, so only those elements are shown all of the time. Out of sight, out of mind. I like this for the most part.

However, one of the questions I'm constantly asking myself is "how much longer does this chapter go on?" and I like to have that computed for me and ready to display at a single touch. As it is I sometimes use swipe up gesture to jump to the beginning of the next chapter, while noting the change in Location and guesstimating how long it will take to finish reading the chapter. Then jump Back and continue reading. But this seems a little convoluted.

For example, they could show chapter reading progress when you bring up Menu/Options. "x screens to go in chapter". This is a little problematic, however, as not all ebooks have markup that properly defines chapter boundaries, even if there seem to be obvious chapter headings and so forth. Without that markup, there are only heuristics to fall back on, which is to say 'a best guess' and that probably is not good enough in practice. And books vary greatly in terms of the chapter length, there can be 'breaks' within each chapter that represent a shift in scene, so it is hard to come up with an approach that works well with every book. Any 'solution' will need to include better HTML coding standards as well and tools that reinforce these.

So nothing is perfect, but Kindle Touch is the best Kindle to date as far as I'm concerned.

[clen3k]

Thanks for the thorough answer! And I am really liking my KT so far as well. Though the page turns aren't as smooth as the K3 (I do have the constant refresh turned off) and I occasionally "turn" too many pages at once. :P

What I actually meant is that the page numbers won't show even with the menu toolbar and the "go to.." options. Weird.

Any way to turn off the constant locations and percentage? I prefer the screen completely clear of additional information while I'm reading.

(My favourite thing so far? I can now use some purses that I haven't worn for ages since my K3 wouldn't fit and I never leave the house without my Kindle with me. )