Why have e-readers ditched page turn buttons?

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Fat Abe

I dislike screen taps for page turning because the software does not always respond to the tap or swipe, and fingers leave an oily residue on the screen. The failure rate of buttons has been greatly exaggerated.

This has been my issue with page turns via a touch screen: It doesn't seem to be as reliable as it should be. On my Nook Color tapping/swiping the side of the screen usually causes it to turn the page but sometimes it causes it to zoom into the page or bring up the menu.

A tap or a finger swipe is fine with me as long as it is reliable. I think a way to improve reliability is to use the Kobo model where tapping the right and left sides (say within 1" from the screen's edge) of the screen turns the page, and only in that area.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you have a device you like, do you really want to ditch it because of a battery?

I think it depends on the device. If a device has parts that will eventually wear out after a certain amount of time due to regular use, then a non-replaceable battery might provide a warning that the device is going to fail.

An example of this is the iPod Classic which contains a small hard drive. My figuring is that the battery is good for about 500 recharges and when the the battery no longer holds a sufficient charge the hard drive is due to fail soon anyway. This gives me a warning to replace the device before it actually fails.

However, for devices that have few parts that will wear out there should be the option to easily replace the battery. An example of this is my Handspring Visor. Despite being over 10 years old it still works, I only need to occasionally replace the batteries (two AAA batteries). Meanwhile, my other much-newer devices with non-replaceable batteries are no longer usable.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, the touch screen is much easier to use than the buttons for page turns. Swiping to turn the page is more like turning the page of a pBook.

Question...When you read pBooks, did you complain about the page turn method?

When you turn a page in a real book it doesn't insert a greasy fingerprint on all subsequent pages.

[crossi]

I've played with a variety of tablets. Ipads in stores and I bought a Fire. I simply dislike the touch screen interface on all of these devices. I just can't control what happens. Either it doesn't register my touch, or I can't get the right link, I go to the link above or below what I was trying for then have to go back (repeatedly), Or instead of opening I zoom or the reverse, or I can't get a menu to open or once opened to go away. I've taken my Fire to work a number of times but I just get frustrated with it after wasting half my break trying to do something that should be simple like browse some web sites and not suceeding. Until they get an interface as precise and simple as a mouse where you can see on screen where you are pointing without activating anything and you have a choice of activating what is pointed at or bringing up a menu I'm not buying any tablet-like device. Why don't the screens show a mouse pointer anyway as you run your finger over the screens? Buttons are simple. It does one thing and always does what you expect it to do. And you don't have to move your hand.

[silverraven]

I love buttons. My thumb hurts if I have to move it too far over to change the page. I like to hole my reader in my left hand.
OK, so they don't want to give us buttons, fine. Could they not at least put page forward on both edges of the reader instead of just the right side? I switch hands out, depending on which side I am laying on. Usually my left, holding it with my left hand.
I'm thinking something like this:
[IMG][/IMG]
I very seldom page back, which I am betting is true for most of us. Just slap page back in the middle, make both sides page forward.
Could that be changed with a firmware update?
S

[patrickt]

I fully understand those who say they simply like buttons. Fine. That's what the argument is for buttons. Some people like them. There aren't enough of those people to keep Kindle and Nook and Kobo making ereaders with buttons.

Remember when cell phones had anywhere from 20 to 100 buttons. OMG, they're gone. My cell phone has two: a power switch and a toggle to move things up and down. Everything else is, gasp, touch screen.

I do miss wandering around used-book stores and inhaling the heady aroma of mildew and cat pee. As far as I can tell my Kindle has no odor. Wait. Maybe some would be happier with the Kindle Voyage if the aroma of mildew and cat pee were was embedded. Maybe it's a demographic for an after-market cover for the Voyage. It might help Jeff's vision of making the Kindle more like reading a book.

[murg]

Originally Posted by bullet

I have the tame problem with vacuum cleaners. My wife claims I don't even know how to plug it in. They run on electricity?

Yes, vacuum cleaners run on electricity. And they suck up a lot of energy to run.

In the search for energy savings (the latest buzzword campaign), some models are now being designed with the latest innovation: they have a tube coming out the back, simply put he tube in your mouth, and suck.

[murg]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

When you turn a page in a real book it doesn't insert a greasy fingerprint on all subsequent pages.

Depends on how greasy your fingers are.

And sometimes the grease will bleed through to the other side of the page, then onto neighbouring pages.

[disconnected]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

When you turn a page in a real book it doesn't insert a greasy fingerprint on all subsequent pages.

But on an ereader you can easily clean off all the pages at once.

[Froide]

Don't many ereaders and ereader apps provide the option, in "Settings", to use volume buttons to turn pages?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by theducks

(My typewriter is in the garage, right next to the dot matrix printer )

It's awful, isn't it? Laser printers and inkjet printers just don't make the same delightfully deafening "SCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCHHHHHHH" dragging-fingernails-down-a-blackboard sound that dot matrix printers did. Printing just doesn't seem right without it .

Personally I have a small blackboard set up alongside my inkjet printer to allow me to re-create that authentic printing experience.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Froide

Don't many ereaders and ereader apps provide the option, in "Settings", to use volume buttons to turn pages?

Tablet reading apps generally do, yes. Eg, you can do it in Moon+ reader. Generally, though, volume buttons are awkwardly-placed and need a fair amount of pressure to activate. Not very convenient.

[patrickt]

Thanks, Harry, for reminding me of my printer from the early 1980s. It had a Selectric ball and when that sucker got revved up the table shook and the neighbors screamed, "That idiot is printing something again."

But, if you really like something then manufacturers should be forced to keep making them for you and both of the others. Let's face it, if there were a large customer base that wanted page-turn buttons or 5.25" floppies or push-button gearshifts on their car then someone would be making them. Businesses aren't ideologues.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by theducks

(My typewriter is in the garage, right next to the dot matrix printer )

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's awful, isn't it? Laser printers and inkjet printers just don't make the same delightfully deafening "SCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEECCCCCCHHHHHHH" dragging-fingernails-down-a-blackboard sound that dot matrix printers did. Printing just doesn't seem right without it .

Personally I have a small blackboard set up alongside my inkjet printer to allow me to re-create that authentic printing experience.

I still use a dot matrix printer in my store, although paper for reports, is getting more difficult to find.

Epson LQ 590


I use a continuous feed two part sales receipt in conjunction with my POS system. That is Point of Sale not Piece of s@*^.
Apache

[darknessangel]

Precisely my complaint. I just love the buttons on my ye olde Sony PRS-505 and loathe fingerprints on my tabletts. But I guess "touch" is the sexy but not logical tech.

On the other hand I don't want either dictionaries or internet (only in the kindle it is justified), so I guess I'm a little old fashioned when it comes to readers....

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Thanks, Harry, for reminding me of my printer from the early 1980s. It had a Selectric ball and when that sucker got revved up the table shook and the neighbors screamed, "That idiot is printing something again."

My blender does that now. I have to hold onto it while blending or it will vibrate right off the counter.

It would be nice if manufacturers could figure out ways to deliver more things that people really do want. I hate when I have a favorite item and it goes away. I find this happens most commonly with clothing--I like all cotton or hemp because of allergies. 100 percent cotton is getting more and more rare. 100 percent hemp is now nearly impossible to find, even on Canadian sites. I've noticed with several brands (Nike, Danskin, Walmart) that they will start a product 100 percent cotton and then the next batch will be 60/40 same style. Walmart merchandize does this on a regular basis, but most manufacturers to it. They use a lesser quality and don't lower the price. I'm sure most people don't notice, but I then spend hours trying to figure out which vendor still carries 100 percent cotton.