Pages... Do we need them

[Blackadder]

Obviously paper books do, paper sort of lends itself nicely to pages
Ebooks, suppose scrolling is a bit poor on them so pages appear to be the best option.

But computer/tablet/phone screens no such problems.

So, for reading books, is a ‘page’ turn really necessary. Why not just scroll down, well, until the end of the book.

The question then is, would you read a book that didn’t have pages and scrolled all the way down?

[Pookeysgirl]

I wouldn't. Part of the reason I have an ereader is that I am still able to "turn a page". It acts like a book should IMO. I don't like scrolling on my blackberry, I feel more like I'm reading a document rather than turning the page of a book. I'm picky that way.

[QuantumIguana]

I don't like scrolling. I like just clicking a button and getting the next screenful of data. Scrolling seems too much like a computer.

[Kirtai]

I personally find page turns easier to track than scrolling. When scrolling I sometimes lose track of which line I was on which is really annoying, with pages that doesn't happen.

[DiapDealer]

The question then is, would you read a book that didn’t have pages and scrolled all the way down?

Yes, I would read a book that didn't have pages. I do it all the time.
No, I wouldn't read a book if you had to continuously "scroll all the way down."

I don't care whether you call it "pages," "screens," or whatever... I want to see one chunk of text, and then I want to exchange that for an entirely new chunk of text... not mostly the same text with a few new lines added to the bottom and a few lines taken away from the top.

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and then back to the top again. That's the way I want to read.

Originally Posted by Kirtai

When scrolling I sometimes lose track of which line I was on which is really annoying, with pages that doesn't happen.

Ditto this.

[Ntsimp]

I find the page paradigm familiar and comfortable, and that might not change.
As you say, pages are the best option for current e-ink technology.
But in the past I've read books on my computer in ASCII text, without pages. I've also read a number of PG books in a browser, without pages. I would say "no pages" makes more sense for fiction than nonfiction, since for citing sources it's very helpful to have consistent page numbers to refer to.

[elemenoP]

I have used several "read later" (Instapaper, Read It Later, Pocket) apps on my iPhone. I really hate it when I swipe my thumb up and the screen goes too far so I miss some lines of text. Then I have to swipe slowly and I don't get *enough* lines and I have to do it again. I have never found one that really works well for me. With pages, you never have this problem. Every screen is exactly the lines you haven't read yet, nothing more, nothing less.

eP

[NickyWithNook]

I like having pages. I like flipping the page, and I like being able to refer to a page number if I'm talking about it to someone.

[Pomtroll]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

No, I wouldn't read a book if you had to continuously "scroll all the way down."

I don't care whether you call it "pages," "screens," or whatever... I want to see one chunk of text, and then I want to exchange that for an entirely new chunk of text... not mostly the same text with a few new lines added to the bottom and a few lines taken away from the top.

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and then back to the top again. That's the way I want to read.


Ditto this.

DITTO !

[Dazrin]

On a computer with a mouse I don't mind reading when scrolling. My wife makes fun of me when I do it because I am constantly using the mouse to highlight my spot. In an e-reader (or really any device without a mouse) I hate scrolling to read. It is too easy to lose my spot, scroll too far, not scroll far enough...

[Belfaborac]

Originally Posted by Pomtroll

DITTO !

And another one. No scrolling ereaders for me thanks.

[Barty]

Scrolling is better in some instances, e.g., text interspersed with lots of images. In that case, you either break up the image with pagination, or do you display it on next page and leave too much white space. But that is rare.

Pagination wins in most cases, as it takes little to no effort to track where you are.

Especially on a touch device, where you don't have discrete pageup/pagedn keys but imprecise flick scrolling instead.

When I read long articles on the iPad using something like readitlater or instapaper, I prefer to use pagination if the app supports it.

I remember there was an app that let me do both -- flick scroll and pagination. I thought it was cool at first, but it just ended up being unpredictable and troublesome.

[Hellmark]

On my LCD based devices, I prefer having whole screenfuls of text at a time. Even webpages, I just hit the page down button, instead of normal scrolling.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Yes, I would read a book that didn't have pages. I do it all the time.
No, I wouldn't read a book if you had to continuously "scroll all the way down."

I don't care whether you call it "pages," "screens," or whatever... I want to see one chunk of text, and then I want to exchange that for an entirely new chunk of text... not mostly the same text with a few new lines added to the bottom and a few lines taken away from the top.

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and then back to the top again. That's the way I want to read.


Ditto this.

This.
Apache

[JoeD]

There are times I like to scroll whilst reading, but for ebooks, pages all the way.