12-25-2012, 11:53 AM | #46 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,454
Karma: 5469320
Join Date: Jul 2010
Device: Kobo
|
I'm not arguing it CAN'T be done and done well, just that it's probably not as easy as you seem to think. To take it to a ridiculous extreme, pyramids and be build and built well. That doesn't mean it's easy. And even though Kobo has a large company backing them now, they are still a relatively small player vs an Amazon or Sony and therefore have limited resources that they have to allocate and they feel that reflow doesn't gain them enough to justify it.
|
12-25-2012, 05:51 PM | #47 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,047
Karma: 203682
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Libre 2
|
Quote:
|
|
Advert | |
|
12-25-2012, 06:32 PM | #48 | |
Bibliophagist
Posts: 35,428
Karma: 145525534
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Vancouver
Device: Kobo Sage, Forma, Clara HD, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos
|
Quote:
Regards, David |
|
12-25-2012, 07:57 PM | #49 |
Banned
Posts: 31
Karma: 1141490
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Rapid City, SD
Device: Kindles, iPads, Kobo, Nexus 7 and many others
|
It's not designed for that.. Crazy stuff.. use it for what it is designed for.. use it as a Kobo.. these ereaders are cheap.. get several.. than you have no problems.. dah..
|
12-25-2012, 08:12 PM | #50 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,047
Karma: 203682
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Libre 2
|
|
Advert | |
|
12-25-2012, 08:26 PM | #51 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,659
Karma: 66420972
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles
|
Oh, GadgetMan even considers borrowing library books to be an Offence against the Virgin Device, or something. And thinks we can all afford half a dozen devices and a complete stable of full-price retail books. At 200-300 books a year, let's see, that would cost me ... *counts on fingers* *chokes*
|
12-25-2012, 08:28 PM | #52 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,047
Karma: 203682
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Libre 2
|
Quote:
|
|
12-25-2012, 08:37 PM | #53 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,196
Karma: 3765734
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Lenovo Tab M10 FHD Plus, Lenovo Tab M8 HD
|
It really comes down to differences in the way people believe Kobo should support PDFs. Kobo is 100% correct when it says it fully supports PDFs. If you load a PDF, a Kobo will show you the page exactly as it is specified in the PDF file.
Of course, showing a Letter size page on a 6" (or 5" if you use a Mini) diagonal screen is going to be virtually unreadable. (I say virtually because I can do it with some of my gaming PDFs.) However, I don't consider this case to be Kobo being misleading. As numerous others have stated, PDFs specify how a page is to be shown. Kobo supports the file format, therefore it shows the page as specified. Perhaps it would be nice if Kobo attempted to reflow and resize the text. However, given the nature of my PDF books, I would absolutely hate it, as I have no doubt whatsoever that the layout would be completely messed up. This is not a case of a company being false with consumers. The company is doing exactly what it claims to in the case of PDFs. That there is a small segment of consumers who feel they should be doing more (ie going the extra mile) does not make the company's claim any less true. |
12-25-2012, 09:55 PM | #54 | |
Evangelist
Posts: 490
Karma: 1665031
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Vancouver Island, Nanaimo
Device: K2 (retired), Kobo Touch (passed to the wife), KGlo, Galaxy TabPro
|
Quote:
|
|
12-28-2012, 06:10 AM | #55 | |
Elite Member
Posts: 6
Karma: 10
Join Date: Dec 2012
Device: Kobo Glo
|
Why do people keep bringing up this purely theoretical argument.
Yes, strictly speaking, you're correct. However in everyday practice, a whole bunch of PDFs is what I have (not epub, not txt, not doc, PDF). And no author is even aware of the kind of screen or display it's intended to be read. That's just a technical detail, simply not part of their reality whatsoever. Does an author working with a 26" monitor ever consider that people with a 15" laptop may want to read the PDF too? No. They're not even aware this is an issue. Does this happen in reality? Yes, of course, all the time. Quote:
I want to read a PDF the best way possible, given the material I have: a Kobo Glo. Converting them to ePub through an external tool usually does a good job (which clearly proves that a very workable acceptable solution exists), albeit a tedious, inconvenient process to do this for every PDF. I think it's extremely user unfriendly that the Kobo eReader doesn't have similar functionality built in. |
|
12-28-2012, 08:03 AM | #56 | |
Watching the Sky
Posts: 234
Karma: 634112
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Device: Kobo Aura
|
Quote:
I'm not saying that a reflow feature wouldn't be appreciated, just making sure that people know that it's a hack, no two ways about it, and it would likely fail on many, many PDF documents with anything beyond basic formatting. Yes, reflow could be a nice little feature. No, Kobo has not mislead anyone, they support the PDF standard just fine. Yes, PDFs are, in general, a horrible format for any text-heavy documents that don't rely on complex formatting. |
|
12-28-2012, 05:19 PM | #57 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,047
Karma: 203682
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Libre 2
|
Yes, and that is the obvious contradiction. It's why it doesn't work when the screen is smaller. It's no use saying the PDF has to be displayed the way the creator had intended.
|
12-28-2012, 07:42 PM | #58 |
Watching the Sky
Posts: 234
Karma: 634112
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Device: Kobo Aura
|
It's bothersome on small screens, yes, but all I'm saying is that any PDF reflow feature is an unsupported hack. As far as I know, the PDF standard includes nothing about dynamically reflowing text. The reality is that if anyone had really been able to do it well, and reliably, the feature would be all over the place, not just on a few ereaders.
|
12-28-2012, 07:50 PM | #59 |
Wizard
Posts: 1,047
Karma: 203682
Join Date: Oct 2009
Device: Libre 2
|
Adobe themselves do it.
"Reading PDFs with reflow and accessibility features" - http://help.adobe.com/en_US/acrobat/...ff-7d19.w.html |
02-26-2013, 06:45 PM | #60 |
Member
Posts: 13
Karma: 17028
Join Date: Jan 2013
Device: Kobo Glo
|
Based on the discussion above and my cumbersome experience...
I regret buying a Kobo Glo. All of my books are in PDF and it is **** when reading in my Kobo Glo! I found paradise when I downloaded KEPUB from the store which are basically the NOT-SO-GOOD to the CRAPPY books from smashwords. The company is making you believe that PDF is **** and KEPUB is the way to go! Spend more money on us! This is the same with an overpriced Kobo Glo Case from them (more expensive than the Kobo itself) while in fact it could have been sold more cheaply! I really regret buying this device when buying a cheaper Android Tablet may have done reading PDFs more conveniently. You may argue that the battery life of Kobo is way better than Tablets but at least they can show PDFs better or at least give you a choice. A company who are abandoning their customers demand about having a better reading experience with their device will go down the gutter. I have seen a lot of old topics here in mobileread that are still not fixed by Kobo or better yet abandoned. I REALLY REGRET BUYING A KOBO GLO. Now there goes my morning rant. |
Tags |
pdf, reflow, support, turn page, zoom |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Glo How to import reading Life Statistics from Kobo Touch to Kobo Glo? | the_m | Kobo Reader | 5 | 12-13-2012 03:40 PM |
Glo Kobo Glo cloud sync of bookmarks, read status, highligts and notes? | flips01 | Kobo Reader | 4 | 11-24-2012 07:31 AM |
Kobo Glo fonts compared to Kobo Touch | RobertJSawyer | Kobo Reader | 3 | 10-11-2012 12:10 AM |
Kobo Glo Vs Kobo Touch Sizes (Want to use my Skindigital cover) | Chocky | Kobo Reader | 3 | 09-25-2012 10:47 AM |
Best eInk ereader for PDFs? or How do I cope with PDFs on the Kobo Touch? | GvilleBridge | Kobo Reader | 8 | 01-19-2012 07:22 AM |