What is the page number conversion?

[badgoodDeb]

My Kindle occasionally wedges ... it ignores my Next Page press, and in 60 seconds or so, it will dump me back to the index. I don't have to do any resetting, it eventually comes to its senses, but it is back in the index. I've discovered that when the Next Page is ignored (and I pressed it again to make sure I really pressed it) I should make a note of the "number" listed at the bottom left. When it dumps me back to the index, it usually has forgotten what page I was on, and entering the book again puts me quite a number of pages further back. So I just select "Goto Location" from the menu, type in the number I took note of during the freeze, and voila! I'm all set.

So -- I do use those number occasionally! (Though a page number would work too, in this case.)

[gshipley]

After having my kindle for a week and trying to be "okay" with not having page number I conclude the following:

I no longer mind not having page number. I am not going to suggest that I like the location system better, but once I figured out how to understand and use the location numbers I do think it makes the most sense for a e-reader.

[JSWolf]

if page numbers are important, why get a Kindle when the 505 has page numbers?

[Alisa]

Maybe because many of the other features the Kindle has may be more important than page numbers to them. Personally, I don't like the system either uses. I'd rather see things marked by chapter and paragraph numbers. I don't want a page number to change based on font size. I want it to refer to a location in a book but I think chapter/paragraph makes it easier to convey a location to people reading paper books or other devices. However, if the Sony had that, I'd still choose the Kindle because I don't want to give up search, dictionary lookup, or the convenience of the Kindle store. It's a lower priority item to me.

[tsgreer]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Maybe because many of the other features the Kindle has may be more important than page numbers to them. Personally, I don't like the system either uses. I'd rather see things marked by chapter and paragraph numbers. I don't want a page number to change based on font size. I want it to refer to a location in a book but I think chapter/paragraph makes it easier to convey a location to people reading paper books or other devices. However, if the Sony had that, I'd still choose the Kindle because I don't want to give up search, dictionary lookup, or the convenience of the Kindle store. It's a lower priority item to me.

I would prefer a regular page numbering system, but you are totally right in the fact that the dictionary and Kindle store convenience more than make up for their strange page number system.

Really the only reason I like page numbers is so that if I forget to bookmark a page or something gets weird and I wander away from the page I was reading, I can get back.

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

if page numbers are important, why get a Kindle when the 505 has page numbers?

'

I hope you recognize that a person can be critical of one aspect of something while enjoying the rest of it, or enjoying the item as whole? That's really not that difficult a concept is it?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Maybe because many of the other features the Kindle has may be more important than page numbers to them. Personally, I don't like the system either uses. I'd rather see things marked by chapter and paragraph numbers. I don't want a page number to change based on font size. I want it to refer to a location in a book but I think chapter/paragraph makes it easier to convey a location to people reading paper books or other devices. However, if the Sony had that, I'd still choose the Kindle because I don't want to give up search, dictionary lookup, or the convenience of the Kindle store. It's a lower priority item to me.

Interesting concept of displaying chapter and paragraph number. It might actually work. Because even different pBook editions of the same book have different page numbers and that would be a way of being able to say where you are regardless of eBook, PB pBook, or HC pBook.

[Ervserver]

Perhaps eventually Amazon will offer a Kindle with page numbering for $499.00

[JSWolf]

Or perhaps they'll add page numbering in the 2.0 firmware.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Interesting concept of displaying chapter and paragraph number. It might actually work. Because even different pBook editions of the same book have different page numbers and that would be a way of being able to say where you are regardless of eBook, PB pBook, or HC pBook.

It was actually Kovid that brought it up earlier in this thread. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before, though. After all, that's how the Bible is done and talk about a book with a lot of printings. Plus people do routinely study and discuss it. Makes sense that it would have a good system of facilitating that.

[TallMomof2]

I haven't spent much time with a 505 but are the page numbers always the same, assuming you don't change font size or style? One of MobiPocket's "features" is that page numbering is very fluid even if you don't change font style or size. If you move around a lot in the book the page numbers shift. I've found this to be true on all my Palms and even the Desktop version but I don't read much on the Desktop. On the Iliad, MobiPocket almost always underestimates the number of pages. You think you're getting near the end of the book but it keeps on going.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Alisa

It was actually Kovid that brought it up earlier in this thread. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before, though. After all, that's how the Bible is done and talk about a book with a lot of printings. Plus people do routinely study and discuss it. Makes sense that it would have a good system of facilitating that.

Kovid may have bought it up this time but it is a tried and true system in business documents such as specifications that are revised often. It has also been brought up plenty of times in earlier threads on this same topic which occurs quite often in this forum.

The Bible does not use paragraphs for numbering since paragraphs hadn't even been invented when the Bible was originally written. It does not even use sentences for numbering since they hadn't been invented either. It uses a system that is not particularly intuitive but proves that a standard is more important than consistency.

Paragraph numbering, indexed with headings such as chapters, is an excellent system when a document needs to be referenced. This can be easily accomplished and will work well for most documents but is not a perfect system for all documents such as poems where it needs to be adapted a little but can still be made to work I believe.

Dale