A very simple thing amazon could do

[cerem0ny]

The list of things Amazon should do but just chooses not to is both long and mystifying. The margin choices are crappy, the screensavers suck, the font sizes are not good, etc. it took them how many years to implement custom fonts and warm lighting? Honestly it just smells like stubbornness to me. I look forward to each update of the firmware in this regard...

[binaryhermit]

They're amazon, they don't care, they don't have to.

Seriously, look how browsers stagnated in the early 2000s after Netscape died. This only really changed after Firefox became a thing.

[Pyjam]

The screensavers are beautiful. I love them.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

The list of things Amazon should do but just chooses not to is both long and mystifying. The margin choices are crappy, the screensavers suck, the font sizes are not good, etc. it took them how many years to implement custom fonts and warm lighting? Honestly it just smells like stubbornness to me. I look forward to each update of the firmware in this regard...

On a six inch screen, how many margins sizes do you need? 3 seems fine to me.

I don't stare at the sleep screens on any of my devices. If the sleep screen is on, I'm not using the device.

The newer versions have 14 font sizes, 5 weight settings, and 9 font faces. Surely there is a combo that is acceptable for most users.

I don't understand the fussing over lighting temps, and probably never will. I'm 60, have had terrible vision since I was 5, but have no issues with the adjustable font lighting on any of the Kindles I've owned.

With adjustments when needed, I've always been able to get a font face/size, margin, line spacing, and light setting that works for my particular needs at that moment. The options are an embarrassment of riches as far as I'm concerned. Any e-ink reader I've used, Kindle or Kobo, are simply wonderful, because I can read again. Something I'd lost before my first Kindle in 2009.

I'd rather enjoy the benefits than focus on the shortcomings.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

On a six inch screen, how many margins sizes do you need? 3 seems fine to me.

I don't stare at the sleep screens on any of my devices. If the sleep screen is on, I'm not using the device.

The newer versions have 14 font sizes, 5 weight settings, and 9 font faces. Surely there is a combo that is acceptable for most users.

I don't understand the fussing over lighting temps, and probably never will. I'm 60, have had terrible vision since I was 5, but have no issues with the adjustable font lighting on any of the Kindles I've owned.

With adjustments when needed, I've always been able to get a font face/size, margin, line spacing, and light setting that works for my particular needs at that moment. The options are an embarrassment of riches as far as I'm concerned. Any e-ink reader I've used, Kindle or Kobo, are simply wonderful, because I can read again. Something I'd lost before my first Kindle in 2009.

I'd rather enjoy the benefits than focus on the shortcomings.

i couldn't agree less. i have far more control over all three, font size, margins and line spacing on my Kobo's than i do on my Kindle Basic 8th generation. only having 14 font sizes when i often want the size in-between isn't very good or only having 3 margins seems an unnecessarily rigid system to me.

the key words in your post are (as far as i'm concerned) obviously everyone as their own subjective opinion on what they want/don't want. my overarching point is why not give a wider scope on the aforementioned options therefore hopefully accommodating for more people's individual preferences.

best wishes koboy

[cvkemp]

I personally prefer the time left in the chapter

[Pjama]

This picture I just took proves they can do it. Maybe I should just read it like this.

[cerem0ny]

Originally Posted by Pyjam

The screensavers are beautiful. I love them.

I would much prefer the book cover, a la Kobo. The book costs something like $15 it would be nice to at least enjoy the cover for a while! I miss that feature so, so much.

[azayn]

Originally Posted by koboy

good idea let's hope they do it. another simple thing Amazon could do is add pages left in chapter into the firmware, i know it as time left in chapter but not pages. i much prefer pages left in chapter it's the main reason why i use my Kobo all of the time while the Kindle lays idle.


best wishes koboy

I love this features of Kobo too. It's a little annoying having to constantly check the TOC on my Kindle to see how many pages are left in the chapter.

[ArthurianLegends]

Originally Posted by azayn

I love this features of Kobo too. It's a little annoying having to constantly check the TOC on my Kindle to see how many pages are left in the chapter.

I totally agree; I remember being somewhat condescendingly told on these boards that time left was all that was needed, and told that pages left wasn't accurate because they weren't real pages.
Personally, time left is meaningless to me, because it is far from accurate, specially reading verse or annotated books with illustrations, and it puts a damper on flipping to and fro, because all of that triggers an inaccurate assessment on my reading. I
Far more beneficial to me is to know how many screens (pages or whatever) are left in a chapter, because that gives me more the feel of reading a book.

And yes, having our book covers as screensavers would be nice too.

I don't think it asking for much, considering how much many of us spend on e-readers and e-books.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by Pjama

It occurred to me as I was reading on the beautiful display of my new Oasis 3 that there is one very simple thing Amazon could do to make the display look more like a book.

Have an option to display the page number alone, in the middle of the footer!

This would look wonderful, and I would appreciate the option to see the page number without the percentage.

Note that I am not advocating removal of the percentage from all the reading progress footers, but providing an option for centered page number without this would be great.

Send in a request to Amazon. Maybe one day they will add it to the upgrades giving you that option. I think it's unusually fussy, but hey, I haven't read a paper book in years now, so I don't care if it 'looks like a book'. If I was switching between, maybe it would be something I would want.

[Pjama]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Send in a request to Amazon. Maybe one day they will add it to the upgrades giving you that option. I think it's unusually fussy, but hey, I haven't read a paper book in years now, so I don't care if it 'looks like a book'. If I was switching between, maybe it would be something I would want.

I did! I also sent them a request to add covers as screen savers! They said it was a 'great idea'. Hmmm. I’m not expecting anything to happen really, but I thought I would add a post here as well. Just to chat, not because I think it can make a difference.

[Pjama]

It would be nice to have an option for a centered footer is all, with whatever people like to see in it, time remaining, pages, location, whatever! I don’t understand why this is controversial. An option, note, not compulsory. And so what if I prefer my page to look like a book?? I also never read paper books any more, but sometimes I like to read with nothing else on the screen, and sometimes I like to see a page number on the screen. Not a big deal.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by stumped

because pages has no well defined meaning, if by pages left you mean screens left, that will change whenever you change font size. If you define page so that it doe not correlate to screen, then there are complaints that page is not working properly / is stuck/ is skipping... its not a winnable challenge

Location and percentage are reliable indicators with fixed meanings. time left is fairly reliable if you are not a page flipper and give the algorithm time to study you

Exactly.
% read/remain is the most useful for ebooks. Page number is useless.

[Pyjam]

Number of pages measured by the actual number of words divided by an arbitrary value is what matters because it's what people understand.

The percentage means nothing because it depends on the size of the book.

The locations means nothing because nobody understands what it is, and because its calculation is based upon the html text, including the tags.