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Old 08-01-2008, 08:01 AM   #61
JoeD
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Posts: 895
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Join Date: Nov 2007
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Quote:
It exists on ALL implementations of the Mobi Reader - it appears to be something deep inside the Mobi "engine" that all the different versions of the reader use.
That's a bug with mobi then that they should fix. Although, without knowing the root cause, it might turn out to be a major flaw with the way their viewer works that would require a complete overhaul and would be unlikely to ever happen.

On the Hanlin, it showed I was on page 330 / 504 when my device crashed. I loaded it again, hit goto page, entered 330 and was back on the exact page I'd previously been reading.

Obviously if I changed the font size that wouldn't have been possible, but with that one exception, I've found page numbers to be very useful.

So far I've only had one crash/reset which required the use of "goto page". Beyond that though I've often used page numbers as a gauge as to how much I've left to read. Which is a little harder to do with percentages only (although still possible). If I open a book and it shows I'm 10% into it, I don't really know how much I've left to read until I've read enough to make it tick over to 11%. Where as with page numbers, (even if they change when you change font size, which imho is a good thing), I see I'm on page 100 / 1000 and know I've a while left on this book yet :P So although it's possible with percentages, it's more effort and something I'd prefer not to have to do when really I'm there to read a book and only want to glance at a quick indicator for what is left, which X / X does perfectly.

Are page numbers critical? No. Do I personally find them useful, Yes. Would I be happy with just a progress bar, no, but I'd settle for a progress bar if the alternative is nothing at all. I still find page numbers more useful in some cases than the progress bar though (fb2 viewer has both).

I don't know what it is that the fb2 viewer on the Hanlin does differently to the mobi viewer on the Cybook. But it's certainly capable of tracking page numbers.

Anyhow, I'm not here to try to force my opinion on others, some will want page numbers, some won't and others won't care either way. I just feel it would be nice for people to have the option. Accepting their limitation in relocating a page when you change font size. But when it comes down to it, the people who count are those that work on the software for the Cybook's viewer. If they don't want page numbers, or see it as a major task to fix their viewer in order to support them, then I guess page numbers are out.

Last edited by JoeD; 08-01-2008 at 08:12 AM.
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