Why do Kindle page numbers use hardback?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Maybe it's because the hardcover version comes out before the paperback version, and thus the hardcover page count is available first?

I really do believe it's that simple.

[Jack Torrance]

I'm guessing this is something that came along in the later Kindles. My K2 and new DX only display location numbers in a spread and not actual page numbers. initially this bugged me but I got over it and haven't thought about it in a few years.

But I'm also one of those people that doesnt change fonts, line spacing, margin headers ect.

[Barty]

Maybe they can add sensors to measure my pulse, then based on my age, height, weight, marital status, income, place of residence, occupation, lifestyle, etc. estimate number of heart beats I will expend while reading the book, versus number of heart beats I have left according to actuary tables. This will let me know whether I really want to finish this book or not.

[patrickt]

The only value I can see to page numbers is coordinating citations with paper books. That would be appropriate for class work, research, and reading groups. Considering those groups, I honestly don't know if hardback or paperback should be the rule.

For reading just on a Kindle, page numbers aren't of much use for me.

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by Barty

Maybe they can add sensors to measure my pulse, then based on my age, height, weight, marital status, income, place of residence, occupation, lifestyle, etc. estimate number of heart beats I will expend while reading the book, versus number of heart beats I have left according to actuary tables. This will let me know whether I really want to finish this book or not.

I think this is coming in ios9...

[DiapDealer]

I'll be perfectly honest. I want no numbers or progress indicators of any kind when reading strictly for pleasure. I don't want to know how close I am to the end of the book, chapter, or what-have-you--whether it be a number-based or time-based thing. I see the chapter numbers as I encounter them of course (if the book has chapters or chapter-numbers), but since I didn't bother to look at how many chapters the book had before I started, they're not really all that relevant in the GSoT.

The only progress indicator I find useful is the one that won't let me make any new text appear on the screen. When that happens, it usually means I'm done with that book, and it's time to choose the next book to read.

[Katsunami]

I've just decided to count characters on a page in some of my paperbacks. On average, a full page would be around 2400 characters, so I use that number in the Count Pages plugin. My ebooks are about 5-10% thinner than a paperback, because when counting characters, white space is not considered. Maybe I'll start using 2150 or 2200 pages next year, or even recalibrate to an actual paperback.

[haydnfan]

Katsunami, have you done character count per page on the Kindle per font size? If so, would you mind sharing? I'm curious but not curious enough to count it myself.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by haydnfan

Katsunami, have you done character count per page on the Kindle per font size? If so, would you mind sharing? I'm curious but not curious enough to count it myself.

I did, somewhere in the past, comparing the fonts on the Kindle to the ones I was editing myself. There should be some posts around here somehwere, stating how many lines and characters per line fit onto a Kindle screen, at least for some of the smaller sizes of some fonts.

I did notice that my ebooks are shorter, compared to paperback versions, because when counting characters, white space is not taken into account. I think I'm going to abandon this year's page count challenge (I'm thousands of pages behind), and recalibrate my library to the current paperback version of The Fellowship of the Ring.

(Even this will not be 100% correct, as my three e-books are actually not three books; they are split off from the e-book which is based on the 50th Anniversary edition of 2004. Strangely enough, my e-books don't seem to contain the errors mentioned in the one star reviews of that edition.)

=== addition ===

I've looked up the page counts of some paperbacks I've owned in the past, trying to find the exact edition, and then hitting that exact page count using the "Count Pages" plugin. I've picked some books I know to have smaller and bigger characters compared to what is normal.

Tolkien, JRR - Fellowship of the Ring: 432 pages, 2735 ch/p
Clavell, James - Shogun: 1152 pages, 2425 ch/p
Brooks, Terry - The Elfstones of Shannara: 576 pages, 2244 ch/p
Eddings, David - Belgarath the Sorceror: 736 pages, 2296 ch/p
Eddings, David - The Diamond Throne: 450 pages, 1945 ch/p
Salvatore, RA - Homeland: 384 pages, 1695 ch/p

The average of the books above is 2223 ch/p. The Salvatore book seems to have huge characters and enormous margins, trying to get it to be a respectable size. At my current setting of 2400 ch/p, the book is only 280 pages long. When using the 2735 ch/p of "The Fellowship of the Ring", the book would have been only 250 pages. Though the editions of FotR and Homeland above would not be far apart in physical size, FotR would take you much more time to read. As you can see, going by page number to point out how long a book will take you to read, is completely useless.

If I leave out the Salvatore book, the average character count is 2329 ch/p. I think the average used by ADE and Calibre, being 2300 ch/p, is right on the money, barring 'special cases' such as FotR or Homeland.

I think I might not even recalibrate my library and just keep it at 2400 ch/p; I've now gotten used to the 'tickness' of my ebooks using that setting.

[rollei]

Originally Posted by mewmartigan

I was just wondering why the Kindle "real pages numbers" use the hardback. I would think the paperbacks would be more applicable as a medium font on the Kindle's screen would equate to almost one page of a paperback.

I was reading Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson. The paperback is 960 pages. The hardcover and the Kindle book are 600. It's just weird seeing the page number not change even after you've changed the page on the Kindle twice.

Personally, for some reason, the length of a paperback also gives me a better idea of how long a book is versus a hardback (not sure why...maybe because I've seen hardbacks in a few sizes and font sizes whereas mass market paperback seems pretty standard).

I'm just thinking out loud because I am about to start "The Bonehunters" by Erikson and the Kindle book is 800 while the paperback is 1200 pages!

Either way, I'm happy holding a small Kindle Voyage instead of a 1200 page paperback

If the page number does not change after changing the page on the Kindle twice, I don't see why I need a page number.

If I really need a page number, I rather have Kindle page numbers, in your example, the number of pages for the Kindle will be 1600 pages.

Not just a Kindle page numbers, but real Kindle page numbers, if on the large Kindle reader, it is 1600 pages, on the Kindle for Android which has a smaller screen, the page numbers will be 2500 pages for the same book.

Otherwise, page number is not necessary, particularly for Kindle for Android since that page number will take up space, in the form of the bottom margin.