[Faterson]

Democrite, we're talking about the current Marvin 3 regular release here, no beta.

You're really talking about 3 scenarios in your post, and the middle one (Kris's current solution) I really find superfluous. Jon is spot-on in that regard. Why reinvent the wheel? The "ADE page numbers" wheel already exists, doesn't it? And it is transferable to non-ADE e-reader software, as I'm sure Jon will gladly confirm to you based on his use of ADE page numbering on various platforms.

But there is really no need for Marvin to invent a fully arbitrary page numbering scheme all of its own. Why? Well, because we now have this marvelously precise iCloud reading location syncing, right? When it's just about Marvin, all you need to do is press the button, and there you are – exactly where you wish to be. No need to look at page numbers at all. The page numbers for manual reading locations syncing only make sense when you're talking about cross-platform syncing (outside of Marvin and outside its own arbitrary page numbering), and that is all the more reason to adopt an already existing cross-platform solution like the ADE (fake) page numbering.

However, to me (and I'm sure many other Marvin users), the main use (that I would list under #1) would definitely be the one you only alluded to in passing: what's the most natural question a book reader has as he or she is reading a book? Why, it's "How many pages do I still have to go (how many more pages do I need to flip) in this exciting/boring book?" Or, "Which page in this book am I on?" And no, it does not make sense, unlike what Kris claims, to flip 3 pages on the iPhone, without seeing the "page number" change at all, or to flip a single page on the 13-inch iPad, and see the "page number" drop by 3 all of a sudden. That's for geeks, but not for your regular book readers.