[Jellby]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I find that a very funny statement. How can the software not decide for you what you want to do?

Thanks, it was intended to be funny
I guess what I mean is that I like options, since I often don't like the defaults that work for most users.

As I just commented in another post, we forget that the point of these devices is to read books.

I can understand that, I just say that I would like it different (and it seems Jon too). I don't say it's a useless feature, or that the reader is broken. It's a feature, and I can see its use, but I can see the use of the lack of this feature too.

To my mind, loading a book to check the formatting is a relatively unusual activity. [..] And personally, I've never needed to finish the book to do that,

Only if the formatting you want to check is in the last page

If you are reading fiction, how often is it that you don't know you are on the last page? It's usually obvious from the context. And a hell of a lot of books have those two magic words there that we so often don't want to see. And most of them have some sort of back-matter that means if you do go past the last page of the story, you don't actually go past the end of the book.

Quite often, actually. There may be an additional sentence. If the text finishes mid-screen and the page number is the last, you can be pretty sure. If the text ends near the bottom of the screen, maybe the last paragraph and "THE END" are going to appear in the next screen, or maybe not. And as you say, some books have more stuff after the end, others don't. A look at the page numbers can tell you which is the case, but that still means you'd have to think twice before trying to turning a page.

Again, this is a matter of opinion of what the correct behaviour is. Personally, I've finished the book, so I want it recorded. On the occasions that I don't want that to happen, I just don't finish the book.

Yes, we are not talking about "correct" behaviour, but about the behaviour each one prefers. I'm spoilt by using linux, so I want plenty of options everywhere.

Another case of falsely finished book: a book with long end-notes. You follow the link to the last note (you don't know it's the last), the note extends a couple of pages, so you turn the page... and woosh! the book is closed and marked as finished. Unusual? Yes, but annoying too