Problem: kindle stopped showing locations

[Barty]

Originally Posted by emalvick

Customer service these days is awful (not just Amazon). No one reads or listens to you. They hear what they want and respond with canned responses.

I think they do the same thing that IBM's Watson does!

[emalvick]

Originally Posted by Barty

I think they do the same thing that IBM's Watson does!

I think your giving them too much credit!

Then again, IBM's Watson thought Toronto was in the U.S.

[ricsmania]

People, the Kindle is supposed to be simple to use, even for someone who has never used a computer. If they added options for every little detail of the device, it would grow into a monster that eventually gets out of control.

I work with software development, and adding an option (even a simples yes/no) is a very expensive process, because it makes the software complexity grow exponentially: if you have 1 yes/no option, you have 2 possible scenarios; with 2 options, 4 scenarios, 3 options, 8 scenarios, and so on.

So from a developer perspective, it's better to make a change that makes 5% of customers unhappy, than adding an option and increase the complexity of the system, causing a bug or making it hard to use.

And I still keep my opinion about locations: when I'm reading a novel the least thing I want to do is math, or anything that isn't related to the story. For that reason, in my opinion showing locations is a useless feature, and I'm glad they removed it from the screen.

[DiapDealer]

I work with software development, and adding an option (even a simples yes/no) is a very expensive process, because it makes the software complexity grow exponentially: if you have 1 yes/no option, you have 2 possible scenarios; with 2 options, 4 scenarios, 3 options, 8 scenarios, and so on.

So as a software developer, you should also know that changing the appearance of something that long-time users have grown accustomed to, should be the hardest decision you ever have to make -- and shouldn't be done if it's not absolutely necessary. Like it wasn't in this case. Stop trying to make this a simple Locations vs Pages problem. This was an ill-thought-out User Interface change.

People were accustomed to seeing "a number" while they were reading. Then it went away. Unless these users are active members of this or other forums, they're not likely to be "in the know" about various software updates. The fact that users are confused enough by the change to seek out explanations should be evidence enough that it was a bad idea.

[emalvick]

Originally Posted by ricsmania

People, the Kindle is supposed to be simple to use, even for someone who has never used a computer. If they added options for every little detail of the device, it would grow into a monster that eventually gets out of control.

I work with software development, and adding an option (even a simples yes/no) is a very expensive process, because it makes the software complexity grow exponentially: if you have 1 yes/no option, you have 2 possible scenarios; with 2 options, 4 scenarios, 3 options, 8 scenarios, and so on.

So from a developer perspective, it's better to make a change that makes 5% of customers unhappy, than adding an option and increase the complexity of the system, causing a bug or making it hard to use.

And I still keep my opinion about locations: when I'm reading a novel the least thing I want to do is math, or anything that isn't related to the story. For that reason, in my opinion showing locations is a useless feature, and I'm glad they removed it from the screen.

This is the problem with the software industry.

1. It is all about making less work for themselves. Adding customizability does not mean software has to be complicated. That is why there are defaults. It also seems to represent what features software developers think users want or should have rather than what they truly want.

2. As far as bugs and complexity in the software goes, what is wrong with software developers actually testing and debugging? People aren't asking for a ton of features. We just want some features back.

3. Your difference of opinion on locations is proof that there should be some options. Some of us like locations. Some of us can handle the math. As I stated in my first point, your opinion does not necessarily represent what others want and that is the flaw with not having options.

I am pretty sure this change is bothering more than just 5% of the people. There is this ignorance in the software (and really all products) that only a few people are going to be unhappy with a lack of or change of a feature. Rarely are things that straight forward, and nothing is ever so perfect.

[Barty]

Originally Posted by ricsmania

People, the Kindle is supposed to be simple to use, even for someone who has never used a computer. If they added options for every little detail of the device, it would grow into a monster that eventually gets out of control.

I work with software development, and adding an option (even a simples yes/no) is a very expensive process, because it makes the software complexity grow exponentially: if you have 1 yes/no option, you have 2 possible scenarios; with 2 options, 4 scenarios, 3 options, 8 scenarios, and so on.

So from a developer perspective, it's better to make a change that makes 5% of customers unhappy, than adding an option and increase the complexity of the system, causing a bug or making it hard to use.

And I still keep my opinion about locations: when I'm reading a novel the least thing I want to do is math, or anything that isn't related to the story. For that reason, in my opinion showing locations is a useless feature, and I'm glad they removed it from the screen.

There are no extra scenarios in this case. Whether the location and/ or pages are displayed or not, the screen layout remains the same. So it's a matter of checking some flags and printing out some strings, the procedures for which already exist. The most involved part is adding the UI to let the user set the option.

It's just laziness. I know, I've been there.

[lunixer]

Originally Posted by Barty

There are no extra scenarios in this case. Whether the location and/ or pages are displayed or not, the screen layout remains the same. So it's a matter of checking some flags and printing out some strings, the procedures for which already exist. The most involved part is adding the UI to let the user set the option.

It's just laziness. I know, I've been there.

I agree. So have I. I was going to say exactly that earlier, but was worried about being flamed. Seems like a lot of software developers hang out around here.

[TallMomof2]

I prefer locations, too. Guess I got used to them.