Kindle firmware version 5.10.3

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by John F

Do you honestly not care?

No. I can think of no circumstance under which I would have the slightest interest in knowing that I’m on page 484 out of 766 rather than that I’m a bit over half way through the book. I don’t obsess about page numbers in a printed book, and I don’t in an ebook either.

[Braid]

Just for the record, I don't 'obsess' over page numbers; I just have different preferences to those Kindle offers. Although, part of me wishes I did have an obsession - that at least would provide a better justification for taking part in this tiresome debate. (There's nothing uniquely tedious about this debate: all to-and-fro discussions about ergonomic/design preferences seem to be this way).

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Braid

Just for the record, I don't 'obsess' over page numbers; I just have different preferences to those Kindle offers. Although, part of me wishes I did have an obsession - that at least would provide a better justification for taking part in this tiresome debate. (There's nothing uniquely tedious about this debate: all to-and-fro discussions about ergonomic/design preferences seem to be this way).

But kindle does provide the total number of pages in a book. Just tap the top of the screen or swipe up from the bottom. It is also easy to get the average number of "page" turns per percent by dividing the total locations in the book by 100, then dividing that by the typical number of locations per screen advance (page turn).

[Tuneraider]

Here's what i do when i just feel too lazy to tap the screen to find total pages. When it gets to 10% look at the page number and multiply it by 10 or add a zero at the end of page number. That's very close to total pages of the book or file.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by HarryT

How do you give someone a reference to a specific point in a book without "invariant" page numbers? References are vital to anyone who uses books in an academic context.

Obviously it can't do that but I suspect the majority of Kindle users aren't academics. I would think this could be an option and then everyone can get what they need.

I think for most readers, especially when reading novels, the number of screens is the most useful number.

Barry

[barryem]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Back to the update 10.5.3.

I downloaded the file, moved it to each of my PW 4. It seemed to go well with both until I
I went to download a book from the cloud. One of my PW 4 Kindles had no WiFi. Specifically, it could find none of the fifteen or see WiFi connections in my area. After screwing around I did a factory reset and WiFi returned.

Question for the more experienced. Would you exchange this PW 4 or would you wait. It's within the 30 day window now.

If the factory reset fixed it I'd be content.

Barry

[barryem]

Originally Posted by NullNix

My meaningless unscientific impression is that battery drain rate is much better on this firmware release on my Oasis 1, comparable to 5.9.7 again. (However, it might just be that they've fixed the *meter*, since as noted in a previous post 5.10.2 started screaming about how it had no power left in the internal battery after about an hour... and then kept right on working for another eight, as long as you were willing to put up with it screaming at you about how it had no power every five minutes.)

I haven't measured it either but I also think the new update improved battery life. After doing the update I noticed my Voyage battery life had reduced quite a bit. It's getting old so I just thought it was the Voyage. Then I noticed my Paperwhites had the same problem. Now they seem better.

Barry

[barryem]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I do agree that % is useless if you cannot see how long the book is. Using the pBooks analogy, when you look where your bookmark is, you also see the size of the book and can then estimate how far along you are and how much left you have. With an eBook, you don't see how large the book is so you don't know what the % means in terms of how much you've read and how much you've left. The problem with Kindles is that page numbers are meaningless because they can be set to just about anything. With Calibre, I can set any page number and Calibre will make a page number file to make that work. Amazon does the same thing with page number to fit some version pBook.

I think the problem with all of this, your comments and everyone else's, including mine, are that we're still thinking in terms of paper books. We ought to be able to decide what we'd like on Kindles without reference to paper. I'm not sure how to do that but it's probably worth discussing.

Ebooks are something new and I'm not sure we've fully embraced them yet.

Barry

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Braid

My Kobo devices page displays looks like... 'Page 24 of 127'. I have never wanted to change it to anything else, because it is the obvious best way to display progress. I know it is not accurate/consistent - that doesn't matter. It is what I prefer. I wish amazon would add the option to use this page display setting, because it seems really easy to implement. I find their page number+percentage view inferior. I also wish people would stop explaining to me that the page number display is not accurate/consistent/whatever lol.

I agree that it would be nice if Amazon implemented this as an option, but I find that the page#/total-page-count format a bit frustrating. I realize it's impossible, but if the page numbers somehow correlated with the screen, I would like this format. As it is, my favorite format is minutes left in the chapter and the percentage on the right side. At a glance I can see how far along I am within the book, plus I know about how long I have to finish a chapter (whether I have to stop or if I can finish that chapter before putting the Kindle down).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I do agree that % is useless if you cannot see how long the book is.

But a quick glance at the Table of Contents solves that problem.

[sirius7]

On my font settings i notice that when i read and turn pages location change by 11,12 so i just divide locations by 10 and it's kind of page count read and total. I write to amazon couple of times about page count and they reply that it's useless for reading, another time they said will forward my suggestion to developers team. I think they will not make any "pages of" in the feature. So you may just divide location by 10 and try to live with that=)

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

... I realize it's impossible, but if the page numbers somehow correlated with the screen, I would like this format. ...

Impossible in what sense?

If I recall correctly, Sonys (LRF format) had number of screens.

[Ruskie_it]

Originally Posted by Braid

My Kobo devices page displays looks like... 'Page 24 of 127'. I have never wanted to change it to anything else, because it is the obvious best way to display progress. I know it is not accurate/consistent - that doesn't matter. It is what I prefer. I wish amazon would add the option to use this page display setting, because it seems really easy to implement. I find their page number+percentage view inferior. I also wish people would stop explaining to me that the page number display is not accurate/consistent/whatever lol.

Obvious.
Lol.
As in "Cats are obviously the best animals on Earth", or "Pizza is obiously the best food", or... wait a second: "Kandahar is obviously the best city in the world", "Swamp fever is obviously the best illness that one can get"...
There is no "obvious" best. It's just personal tastes, and habit.
And if you want to get down to "scientific" evidences, then no, page count is obviously not the "best", for whatever that means.
But, agreed, having more choices is always the best. Obviously.

[Pjama]

This was the best system, remember it? And it gave me an incentive to read as much as I could in one sitting, as the little start arrow from the start of your reading session stayed in place until the screensaver kicked in. An excellent, simple visual representation of where you are in a book. I wish they had kept it, at least as an option.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Pjama

This was the best system, remember it? And it gave me an incentive to read as much as I could in one sitting, as the little start arrow from the start of your reading session stayed in place until the screensaver kicked in. An excellent, simple visual representation of where you are in a book. I wish they had kept it, at least as an option.

Nah, I personally don't miss it at all. Percentage and Calibre-generated custom page numbers (calculated from characters per page) work for me. I don't want any screen-based page numbers, or paper book based page numbers, or Adobe page numbers etc. etc. I'm perfectly satisfied with the current system.