Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Bob
To me the whole point is that once you use computer technology you're not restricted to using only one single method to designate a location in a text. It shouldn't be an "or" choice but an "and" choice. The question Amazon should have asked is: "What methods shall we offer our customers in addition to the page numbers they have been used to all of their life and will expect to be there, to find their way in the ebooks they pay us for?" Frankly I have few illusions that the main reason for their choice was that it's the method that requires the least effort on their part because location numbers can simply be calculated and require no human intervention/effort and human effort equates cost a.k.a. "money".
The fact that page numbers are not accurate across different paper publications of a book is not important. Obviously with paper books there is no alternative. The page size and font type and size will dictate spread over how many pages a text will be. But with computers? The possibilities are endless. First of all it will be no problem at all to keep the same page numbering between different editions of ebooks as long as the core text with the same page break codes doesn't change. Added introductions at the beginning? In print Roman numerals are used to separate numbering of parts of a book. Roman numerals could be used in ebooks and reading devices/software too. But you'd have to think of it and implement it before production. What else is there? Negative page numbers? That would also be an option. If Amazon releases a new edition with a foreword by someone will they have a method to keep locations the same in the core text as in the previous edition?
But hey... you can do anything(!!!) with computers. And e-readers are just (dedicated) computers. So at the bottom of the screen of whatever device you use it could(!) say:
Preamble - Page 1 (etc.)
Introduction - Page 1 (etc.)
Prologue - Page 1 (etc.)
Chapter 1 - Page 1 (etc.)
Chapter 2 - Page 32 (etc.)
Epilogue - Page 212 (etc.)
Or even:
Epilogue - Page 1 (etc.)
But also variations like:
Chapter One - How it all started - Page 1 (etc.)
Geddit? You are free to use any way you (the hardware and software designers let you) choose to tell you where you are in an e-text. And any of as many ways you want (the choices made by the hardware and software designers let you).
You know how on DVDs you can select a Language audio track? Or a commentary track? Or subtitles in many languages? Or even an extended version with some of the cut scenes put back in? Worried about inconsistencies with regards to page numbering? How about the following?
You open an e-book on your device which would have a settings menu with a page numbering sub-menu with the following choices:
Page numbering:
First edition - 1984 - Hardcover
First edition - 1984 - Paperback
Second edition - 1995 - Hardcover - With introduction by the author.
Second edition - 1995 - Paperback - With introduction by the author.
Selected works - 2008 - second of three books.
E-book - Chapter/Paragraph.
E-book - Chapter/Sentence.
E-book - Uniform Page Numbering (a yet fictional standard page numbering method).
E-book - Locations.
Notice how these e-book standards can do away with editions linked to a particular year.
And it would even be possible to show several of these at the same time:
Footer, Left: First edition - 1984 - Hardcover.
Footer, Centre: Chapter/Paragraph.
Footer, Right: Locations.
As far as I'm concerned this whole discussion is a non-issue if only hardware and software developers (and the business managers that employ them) would have an adequate vision on what the transition of print to e-book should offer us.
Unfortunately.... "The incompetents are running the Earth." And we risk getting stuck with bad choices made by those in the positions to make these choices for us.

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The problem with this approach is how expensive it would be to do. You would have to manually have a person go in and number these sections, then have a copy editor double-check.
The comparison to DVDs isn't really valid, since a DVD represents far more man-hours for a single product than a book does, and therefore will likely have little touches like this. Imagine if any time a publisher wanted to put a book from their back catalog in Kindle format, they had to have a person spend (at minimum) a day adding in section headers, or worse going through 5-10 old editions and plugging in page numbers manually?
Let's say a single man-day of work (though I think that's being *very* conservative). Now say they want to do this for 2,000 books in their back catalog. That's 5.5 man-years.
Now compare that to an automated process that creates a new location every 128 bytes (characters). This process is entirely automated and will likely take a few seconds per book. All of a sudden you can do 2000 books in less than a day.
I'm not saying that e-books don't deserve better treatment, certainly we've all run into more typos and editing mistakes than exist in p-books, but that right now it's simply not profitable to spend a lot of time giving them the attention they deserve.
Now me personally, I've only ever really used the percentage progress bar at the bottom of the Kindle (in the few weeks since I've had one), and it does me fine. I do really like the tip about dividing location by 10, however, and will certainly keep that one in mind, but I really do think if you can pull yourself out of a p-book paradigm, Amazon's solution does make the most sense.
Also keep in mind that having a lot of settings and options to change things is not something that Amazon wants to do. They want their devices to appeal to a broad demographic, not just gadget people (and lets face it, if you're on an internet message board, you're already more of a gadget person than the general populace). My fiancé's grandmother saw the Kindle last weekend and immediately (within 2 minutes) knew how to use it. She has never owned a computer or gone on the internet. This is a woman who needs directions to operate a digital photo frame. If Amazon wants to be a success in this business, it's her and people like her they need to grab. Not you and me.