Question about side loading

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

They probably don't because most people don't care, they simply want to read thier books.

I don't pay the slightest attention to typesetting. All I care about is that the text is large enough for me to read.

Same here. What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Same here. What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

We were bored then.

Seriously though, an average paper book is formatted much better than many ebooks. Generally I didn't see spaces between paragraphs, huge margins, line-spacing or indents in paper books, the way I often see them in ebooks. And of course even when there was anything bothering me (tiny and/or faded fonts, for example), I had no way to change it, so I just had to put up with it or stop reading. I don't have to put up with it now. Freedom of choice spoils people, as is well known.

[Uncle Robin]

May I ask why you prefer KOReader? I tried it, but didn't feel it was that much better than the native readers (other than customization options, of course - which I don't need, as Calibre and patches give me all the customization I want).

After trying KOreader, I found three advantages that was significant enough for me:
(1) Speed. KOreader seems to be much faster, especially with large books. I've read several box sets this year, with page counts from 1000 to 4500, and on my Libra, KOreader consistently delivers a faster, smoother experience as a reader.

(2) Reading stats that work. The Nickel reading stats seem to bear so little resemblance to my actual reading time, that they may as well have been calculated by the proverbial monkeys while on a break from typing out Hamlet. KOreader's stats on the other hand are very accurate, and reliable. It also offers a wider range of reading stats than does Nickel. As I'm reading a lot more this year, I find this helpful.

(3) No need of patching. I don't tinker a lot with typesetting et cetera (just force ragged right), but I do like the fact that I don't need to patch whenever there is a Kobo firmware update. My side loaded fonts are still adjustable in KOreader as is, and the degree of font customisation available seems to exceed that of the advanced font control in Nickel.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Same here. What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

For the most part, the people creating paper books had centuries of how to arrange and space type to lean on. I rarely saw paper books with erratic spacing between paragraphs, blank spaces at the bottom of the page since variable leading was used to even out the type down the page. You sometimes saw a river/lake/hole on a paper book but that was a rare happening. You very rarely saw a paper book that mixed indented paragraphs with wide spaces between paragraphs nor did you see paragraphs where the lines in the paragraph were double spaced (paper cost money so double spacing wasted money) unless it was done for a special effect.

Yes, there were times when I did not like the fonts used or other features but since I could do nothing about it, I lived with it. As the Serenity Prayer put it: "Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other."

If all else fails, I dig out An Essay on Typography, Finer Points in the Spacing & Arrangement of Type, The Elements of Typographic Style or another book on in my small but useful typography library.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

After trying KOreader, I found three advantages that was significant enough for me:
(1) Speed. KOreader seems to be much faster, especially with large books. I've read several box sets this year, with page counts from 1000 to 4500, and on my Libra, KOreader consistently delivers a faster, smoother experience as a reader.

(2) Reading stats that work. The Nickel reading stats seem to bear so little resemblance to my actual reading time, that they may as well have been calculated by the proverbial monkeys while on a break from typing out Hamlet. KOreader's stats on the other hand are very accurate, and reliable. It also offers a wider range of reading stats than does Nickel. As I'm reading a lot more this year, I find this helpful.

(3) No need of patching. I don't tinker a lot with typesetting et cetera (just force ragged right), but I do like the fact that I don't need to patch whenever there is a Kobo firmware update. My side loaded fonts are still adjustable in KOreader as is, and the degree of font customisation available seems to exceed that of the advanced font control in Nickel.

Thank you. Funny, I didn't find KOReader to be noticeably faster. In fact, it couldn't even open the Wheel of Time omnibus (17 000 pages) at all. Nickel has no problems with it.

[cpegg]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Same here. What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

I never thought of messing with this before, but recently I started the third book in a science fiction trilogy that I found unreadable. The author switches between serif and sanserif typefaces and makes liberal use of changes to font size and weight. This was supposed to be clever. I just find it ridiculous and a mess. That book's been set aside until I can get in there and change it.

Back in the misty dawn of history (before ebooks) I actually did wish I could change the typefaces of some books. They were usually printed in an unpleasant sanserif with equally annoying line spacing.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by haertig

But other than that on instance, I can't say I've ever noticed a problem in formatting that I couldn't change to my liking using just the controls on the Kindle itself. I guess I'm not as picky as others (I'm not as hard core reader as most here are, I'm more the slow, recreational reader type).

Originally Posted by cfrizz

I don't pay the slightest attention to typesetting. All I care about is that the text is large enough for me to read.

That sounds good and all. But then you run across gaps like in the attached. Those gaps are distracting while reading. Better hyphenation could fix that.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have used the PW3 and I do find the firmware fairly simple. Not enough useful features and the ones there are too simple. Amazon designs the firmware for children.

Thanks man. I'd still like to play around with one. but I don't want to spend money on it.

I have checked out a couple of relatives Kindles, but that's just been a few minutes here and there.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

I find arguments like this silly and ignorant.

Aside from the fact that even the cheapest paperbacks generally had better typesetting than most ebooks (due to the reflowable text and font size adjustments available in ebooks), it is in human nature to compare and contrast. To try to fix what you can and discuss annoyances you cannot.

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It's the epub reader on a Kobo. Kobos have two reading applications, one for kepubs and one for epubs. If you sideload an epub to a Kobo, you'll get the Adobe RMDSK, if you sideload a kepub or download one directly from the Kobo store, you'll get the kepub reader.

Thanks for the explanations for "RMSDK". I thought it was an acronym like IMO or YMMV.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Same here. What I am wondering is what all the people who have to mess around with typesetting did when there were only paper books?

I suppose that with paper books it was take it or leave it. Also one knew that all people would see the exact same layout; there were no differences caused by different rendering engines.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That sounds good and all. But then you run across gaps like in the attached. Those gaps are distracting while reading. Better hyphenation could fix that.

Better page layout algorithms would also help. In that example moving "in" down from the first line to the second would greatly even out the spacing of both lines without any need for hyphenation.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

We were bored then.

Seriously though, an average paper book is formatted much better than many ebooks. Generally I didn't see spaces between paragraphs, huge margins, line-spacing or indents in paper books, the way I often see them in ebooks. And of course even when there was anything bothering me (tiny and/or faded fonts, for example), I had no way to change it, so I just had to put up with it or stop reading. I don't have to put up with it now. Freedom of choice spoils people, as is well known.

I Have never noticed any of this things in ebooks. I guess I must get so much into the story I never notice those things. Even if I did it would not stop me from reading.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

That sounds good and all. But then you run across gaps like in the attached. Those gaps are distracting while reading. Better hyphenation could fix that.

I don't think I would even notice it once I got into the book. If I did I would not know how to fix it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

I Have never noticed any of this things in ebooks. I guess I must get so much into the story I never notice those things. Even if I did it would not stop me from reading.

Well, many people don't see or hear anything going on around them when they're reading. Unfortunately I'm not one of them. I'm very easily bothered by a million of little things, poor formatting being just one of them. So I fix what I can, so that I wouldn't toss the book or ereader aside in annoyance.

Depends on the temperament, I guess.