Buttons, what's the big deal?

[silverraven]

Originally Posted by radius

For me it's comfort. I can rest a thumb on the next page button and advance with a press.

For touch screen, I have to either swipe, or touch in a designated area. That means that most of the time my thumb has to rest somewhere else and I have to slightly shift my grip every time I want to turn the page. This makes it more likely that I will drop my reader.

Also, I hold my reader in my left hand, and on Kindle, touching the area immediately adjacent to the left bezel goes back one page instead of forward one page. So I have to kind of stretch some hard to determine distance in order to advance the page.

On my other devices I need to swipe to turn the page and this is very hard to do one handed. Maybe my hands are too small compared to the average.

I really miss the page advance buttons on my old Sony PRS-505. So many options for buttons, especially if you hacked it to also use the direction pad for page advance.

I really really wish they would do the touch screens like this. Page forward is used much more frequently than page back.
S

[kacir]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What's the big deal with buttons for turning the page on a Reader? Why isn't the touch screen good enough?

Buttons are different from touchscreen.
I used to use PocketBook 360°. It had a pageturning button just under the thumb.

Another issue with some readers is that touching the left screen margins takes you back, and it is not configurable, so you can't hold the reader in your left hand and turn buttons without swiping.

After PB 360° I had a reader that had buttons and a touchscreen. In some situations I used the screen and sometimes I wanted to use buttons. It is good to have a choice.

At this moment I am using two different readers, both them without proper page turning buttons. No big deal. But, if I could purchase similar device with buttons I would be willing to pay extra money (more than 30Euro) for those buttons.

[grumbles]

Simple, for those without large hands, the only way to read one handed is with buttons.
I have a Sony T3 and I can easily hold it one handed, either left or right, and turn the page. I can't swipe with just one hand. My fingers are not long enough to reach the screen reliably.
And finger prints do show on the matte screen. Not as badly as a glossy screen but they do show.

If I have to use a device without buttons, then I will use a tablet. If must lose the convenience of buttons then I want the convenience of a multifunction device and a colour screen.

[cromag]

I've got ereaders that are buttons only, and some that are buttons plus touchscreen. I never use the touchscreen, unless I accidentally touch it and lose my place when I'm putting the ereader down. My favorite ereaders don't have touchscreens at all.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Have a look at the attachment.

Thank you! That picture proves my point. Because we humans have such varied taste you also find books about bears as well as dogs and cats.

Barry

[barryem]

My Kindle 3 was the first device I ever used with page buttons. I liked them okay. I'd been reading before that on a Palm with a touch screen that scrolled and that's still my preference. I read on my phone with Moon+ set to scroll by touch.

Before that I read paper books. I probably started reading about 1944 so I had a lot of practice reading paper books. I got pretty good at turning pages with the hand that wasn't holding the book.

For those who can't do that I suggest trying to learn. It still works beautifully on today's devices.

My Voyage has fantasy buttons. I can pretend they're there and they work just like buttons, allowing me to turn pages easily with one hand. They seem to work very well but I really see no point in them so except now and then to give them another try I leave them turned off.

I've been watching and reading about the Oasis and I originally decided not to get it because I don't trust that tiny battery, but I keep thinking about it and it's size and shape and I really think I'll like reading on it and that makes me wonder if it's worth giving up battery longevity. Then I examine pictures and videos again and that 40' wide right hand bezel with the buttons changes my mind and I forget about it again, for a while.

If they made an Oasis without buttons or huge right hand clumsy looking bezel I might have an Oasis by now. I really think it's a good design considered strictly in terms of reading. Of course I've never actually seen one so I could be.....well, I was about to say I could be wrong, but nah!

Barry

[Hemmi]

Touch screens and I do not get along at all. I can not do the correct swipe or tap or whatever the heck it wants to get the page to move. I've tried on several devices, it doesn't happen.

I read and hold the reader in the left hand. I can change pages one handed easily by using the buttons and no fingerprints on the screen at all.

[Penforhire]

Positive feedback versus the fractional second delay of the touchscreen and wondering if I touched it correctly. This is more personal preference than a make or break thing for me. I'm just glad my Voyage has the buttons.

And while I agree our screens are fingerprint resistant they are nowhere near impervious, especially as I often read during a meal.

[disconnected]

It often takes me two or three tries to turn the page on touch screens and I mostly find it easier and more comfortable to use my free hand for page turning rather than reaching over with the book-holding hand. It's never bothered me and buttons were never on my wishlist. I didn't care for the "buttons" on the Voyage so I disabled them.

Now that I have an Oasis I've come to prefer the buttons. I do still find myself using my opposite hand and the touch screen part of the time though and for some reason my thumb insists on thinking the button is a rocker switch and tries to page back with the top half of the page-forward button.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Just a personal thing I guess. I started with a Jetbook and Sony 650 which of course had buttons but when I switched to the buttonless Kobos I didn't miss buttons in the least. I'd rather have waterproofing although I suppose it's possible to have both.

[DaveFalcon73]

For me I do both using hardware buttons and touch screen but I sometimes find that if I tap the screen I foolishly think the page has gone two pages ahead. On the odd occasion it has but 80% of the time it hasn't, so I always then have to go back. Sometimes it's just nice to have the tactile feel of a button press to know you've pressed it. I've also tried swiping the page which is sometimes better than tapping.

The other thing coming from older Kindles years ago I still have the mentality of tapping the top half to go back and the bottom half to go right. So sometimes I tap somewhere in the middle the screen and it goes back a page instead of forward a page, then get lost where I am.

[Ravensknight]

Why do you need to post? Aren't other people's posts enough?
Why do you keep changing your avatar? Isn't one avatar good enough?
Why do you have more than one ereader? Isn't your sony prs-650 still working?

I trust I have answered your question in the spirit in which it was asked.

[FizzyWater]

I prefer the buttons for turning pages, but I'd want to keep the touch screen for selecting books, moving between screens, changing fonts, etc.

I did have a good chuckle at myself when I realized that part of the reason I like buttons for page turns was that the longer time elapses between eye exams/new glasses, the further away I hold the reader as I read. Turning the pages with the buttons, using the same hand holding the reader, is just easier when you're extending your arm a good distance from your body.

When my eyeglasses and their prescription are brand new, I hold the reader closer, and I find I alternate between using the buttons to turn pages and swiping.

I do also agree with the fingerprint/smears thing. I certainly don't have to clean my ereader screens as often as I do my phone, but I definitely have to periodically.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

Why do you need to post? Aren't other people's posts enough?

It's one thing to say you want buttons, but it's not the same as saying why you want buttons.

Why do you keep changing your avatar? Isn't one avatar good enough?

Not always. I get bored with the avatar I have and want a change.

Why do you have more than one ereader? Isn't your sony prs-650 still working?

I have more than one Reader because things change. My 650 is slow. The screen is only 6". I wanted a Reader with a larger screen that was faster and I now have such. I never used the buttons on the 650. I didn't use them on the T1. I didn't use them on the nook STR. I just didn't use buttons when there was a perfectly good touchscreen available to use.

I trust I have answered your question in the spirit in which it was asked.

Actually, you didn't say why you like buttons. The spirit is why when a better technology is available (IMHO). It's like saying I prefer a rotary dial telephone to a touch-tone telephone but not saying why. So I'm asking the why.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I prefer the buttons for turning pages, but I'd want to keep the touch screen for selecting books, moving between screens, changing fonts, etc.

I did have a good chuckle at myself when I realized that part of the reason I like buttons for page turns was that the longer time elapses between eye exams/new glasses, the further away I hold the reader as I read. Turning the pages with the buttons, using the same hand holding the reader, is just easier when you're extending your arm a good distance from your body.

When my eyeglasses and their prescription are brand new, I hold the reader closer, and I find I alternate between using the buttons to turn pages and swiping.

When you have a new prescription or your prescription is still correct, do you use the touchscreen to turn the page or do you still use the buttons?

I do also agree with the fingerprint/smears thing. I certainly don't have to clean my ereader screens as often as I do my phone, but I definitely have to periodically.

When I was using a 505 which buttons and no touch screen, I did have to occasionally clean the screen. The screen just gets dust and stuff on it without being touched. IT happens. So out comes a microfiber cloth to clean the screen. I'm finding that while I do clean my H2Os screen more often, it's not that much more often.