Slow death of Kindle?

[rcentros]

I'm happy my Kindles are too old to get these updates. I won't be buying any new Kindles.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Two things are very wrong. The L/R margins are too wide and the line height is too large.

The promotional image for Kindle and Kobo e-readers shows margins and line spacing that are very similar to each other. We should ask them what led them to present this image to the general public and not another. Perhaps they consider it to be appropriate for most people. Personally, I like them.

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm happy my Kindles are too old to get these updates. I won't be buying any new Kindles.

This year, I bought the entire Kindle range: Basic (Matcha), Paperwhite, Colorsoft, and Scribe. All on sale and at an excellent price. Very good e-readers. We'll see on 30 September if there's a new Kindle e-reader. Maybe I'll increase the number for Black Friday.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by kennyc

This can't be true....page numbers are different on every different device.

The Adobe Synthetic Page Number algorithm has consistent page numbers regardless of page size, margins, line spacing, etc.

To go back about 11 years, check this message from 2014 in the Count Pages plugin forum: #1756. This discussion has been going on from before I first joined MobileRead and I am still amused by the insistence on having page numbers in a reflowable format.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by cellaris

The promotional image for Kindle and Kobo e-readers shows margins and line spacing that are very similar to each other. We should ask them what led them to present this image to the general public and not another. Perhaps they consider it to be appropriate for most people. Personally, I like them.

Personally, I like a tighter line spacing and I hate margins that waste a serious percentage of my screen. A right/left margin that almost touches the edge of the screen is just about perfect IMNSHO.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm happy my Kindles are too old to get these updates. I won't be buying any new Kindles.

I probably won't be, either. I might make an exception if Amazon releases a new Oasis-like model, with buttons; but even then I'd think long and hard, because I dislike both the Kindle software and ecosystem. Otherwise, no Kindles for me ever again.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Personally, I like a tighter line spacing and I hate margins that waste a serious percentage of my screen. A right/left margin that almost touches the edge of the screen is just about perfect IMNSHO.

This discussion has also been going on for 15 years, at the very least.

[slm]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I am still amused by the insistence on having page numbers in a reflowable format.

I've generally shared that view but recently I wrote (for my own use) a program to let me read epub files in a browser as true HTML files (with a few controls). I found myself frustrated at not knowing how long a particular book was--I like to know whether I'm half-way through a 200 page book or a 900 page book. I now get the last page from the page-map and figure out my current page algorithmically. Obviously the current page will differ from the page-map page, but I much happier knowing the "size" of the book.

Just a personal preference

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by slm

I've generally shared that view but recently I wrote (for my own use) a program to let me read epub files in a browser as true HTML files (with a few controls). I found myself frustrated at not knowing how long a particular book was--I like to know whether I'm half-way through a 200 page book or a 900 page book. I now get the last page from the page-map and figure out my current page algorithmically. Obviously the current page will differ from the page-map page, but I much happier knowing the "size" of the book.

Just a personal preference

Since I use percentage, the page number are irrelevant.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Since I use percentage, the page number are irrelevant.

Percentage doesn't tell me how long the book is.

I have actually disabled both header and footer on my Kobos, as I don't need them while reading. But I have configured the subtitle field to show my calibre-generated page numbers, so I know the overall length before I start a book.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by cellaris

This year, I bought the entire Kindle range: Basic (Matcha), Paperwhite, Colorsoft, and Scribe. All on sale and at an excellent price. Very good e-readers. We'll see on 30 September if there's a new Kindle e-reader. Maybe I'll increase the number for Black Friday.

Choice is good. But this is definitely not my choice. I don't like being trapped in an increasingly more closed "ecosystem."

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Personally, I like a tighter line spacing and I hate margins that waste a serious percentage of my screen. A right/left margin that almost touches the edge of the screen is just about perfect IMNSHO.

Bringing the text closer to the bevel reminds me of when I was a child and starting to write: I would squeeze as much as possible into the margins of my school notebook. I have a very unpleasant aesthetic memory. Perhaps because I am used to the white space in printed books (which, of course, is not necessary in an e-reader), I like wide margins and line spacing. This may also be why brands promote their e-readers with an image more similar to a printed book.

In any case, our eyesight is highly adaptable. There have been times when I have reduced the margins and used narrow line spacing, and after a short while I have become accustomed to viewing the text that way. When I went back to using wider margins and line spacing, they seemed unpleasant to me... until I got used to them again, and then it was the narrow margins and line spacing that I disliked. As I have e-readers from different brands, with very different customisation options, I finally decided to find a common denominator for all my e-readers. I use the Kindle options on all of them, with some slight variations.

(The same thing happens to me with printed books. I have books with very different margins, line spacing and font sizes. I have never had too much trouble adapting to one type or another).

[cellaris]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Choice is good. But this is definitely not my choice. I don't like being trapped in an increasingly more closed "ecosystem."

As long as Send to Kindle exists, I will continue to consider it an open system, at least when it comes to reading e-books. In other areas (such as customisation options), it has always been a closed system. Little has changed since its inception. Perhaps the most positive development was allowing users to install their own fonts, something that happened many years ago. In other respects, it remains faithful to its particular way of understanding e-readers. I find Kindle e-readers attractive because they suit my preferences and I can enjoy a pleasant reading experience without having to do anything extra, but I know that some people keep their Kindles reluctantly. They should let go of their fears and switch to other brands.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by cellaris

The promotional image for Kindle and Kobo e-readers shows margins and line spacing that are very similar to each other. We should ask them what led them to present this image to the general public and not another. Perhaps they consider it to be appropriate for most people. Personally, I like them.

That doesn't mean the L/R margins and line height are not too large. They are too large. You have to do some manipulation of KF8 eBooks and use ChareInk7SP in order to get this to a somewhat readable state.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Personally, I like a tighter line spacing and I hate margins that waste a serious percentage of my screen. A right/left margin that almost touches the edge of the screen is just about perfect IMNSHO.

For the negative margins I use on a Kindle, there's a 96px waste of space for the default L/R margins. And I agree that the line spacing should be allowed to be smaller.