Do all ereaders have a back function?

[spinster]

Hello,

I don’t have an ereader and have never used one. I do my reading on a MacBook Pro. I need to know if all ereaders have a back function. I have written an ebook with a lot of cross-referenced hyperlinks, so a return link will only link to one location, so will not work. If all ereaders have a back function, as I suppose, that would solve the problem, as it would serve as a return link to wherever you linked from. Do all ereaders have a back function, and if so, is there any problem with it serving as an all-purpose return link that I can’t foresee?

Thanks kindly for any and all insights.

[Deskisamess]

All of the Kindles I've used do. The "back" feature was changed on the last Fires I used, but still worked if you understood it. The old "back" arrow closed the book instead of returning to the spot in the book. But they replaced it with dots at the bottom you could tap in order to return.

The Kindle apps for iDevices worked that way as well. I'd think that feature is pretty standard...

[spinster]

Thanks, Deskisamess. Like you, I think it must be a standard feature. I hope I will get the same encouraging feedback on other devices and reading apps.

[davidfor]

Both Kobo and tolino ereaders have a back button as well.

[spinster]

Thanks, davidfor.

[Adoby]

Some devices have only one (physical) button. And it is a back-button...

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by spinster

Hello,

I don’t have an ereader and have never used one. I do my reading on a MacBook Pro. I need to know if all ereaders have a back function. I have written an ebook with a lot of cross-referenced hyperlinks, so a return link will only link to one location, so will not work. If all ereaders have a back function, as I suppose, that would solve the problem, as it would serve as a return link to wherever you linked from. Do all ereaders have a back function, and if so, is there any problem with it serving as an all-purpose return link that I can’t foresee?

Thanks kindly for any and all insights.

NO, they do not. Many of the older and less-advanced Kindles don't, and any number of ePUB reader devices don't.

I deal with this all the time, due to the linking of indices, and the many-to-one problem. If all devices had a back function, I wouldn't have to worry about it--but they don't.

You cannot assume the existence of the Back function, I'm sorry to say.

Hitch

[Deskisamess]

The 2nd gen Kindle has the "back" feature. It's even called out specifically in the user guide. All since then have as well...I've never had the very first model, so don't know about that one.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

The 2nd gen Kindle has the "back" feature. It's even called out specifically in the user guide. All since then have as well...I've never had the very first model, so don't know about that one.

I honestly don't recall, now, which one(s) (Kindles, Nooks, whatever) lacked the Back functionality, but I know that early on, in the days when we were first starting to think about indexing, we encountered the reality that not everyone/every device has back functionality. This engendered bigtime issues, around the many-to-one problems in indices, in which you have multiple entries, in a given index, going to the same PAGE in a print book. You can't easily create a backlink, for, say, page 26, that will take the reader back to where she was, in the index, if you have more than one inbound link.

I know that I'd have loved to think that all devices had back buttons. It would have solved a lot of headache for me. Not to mention, trying to explain the issues around multiple inbound targets, to a client, and getting readers "back" to where they were, in the index, is never fun.

Hitch

[Doitsu]

@spinster: Also have a look at this related thread.

[spinster]

Thanks, Hitch, for the lowdown, literally. That damned fly is in the ointment again! The question now, one probably impossible to answer, is what percentage of ereaders don’t have back functionality? If it’s small enough, perhaps one just has to forget about catering to the lowest common denominator, and let the devil take the hindmost. You can’t please everybody. Every few years Mac, and I’m sure everyone else, comes out with a new operating system, and, in time no longer supports the old ones, forcing you to upgrade. Apart from lack of a back function, I can’t imagine reading War and Peace on a smart phone or similar Lilliputian screen. It reminds me of Samuel Johnson who, when told of a woman preacher, said, “Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog walking on its hinder legs; it is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all.” But now here’s a return link back to the lack of back function problem: While you mention what a headache this is for you as a formatter, you don’t say how you deal with it, and I suppose that’s because there is no one’s-sighs-fit-all solution. One workaround I recently used in Word to check the links in the index was to open the go-to box and set it to the first page of the index, so that after clicking on a link, it was just a double-click to return to the index. When I got to the end of each page, I reset the page number. But any solution more involved than that, including using the search function, would likely be as much if not more of a pain to the reader than navigating back via the table of contents. Incidentally, I wonder if Amazon (and this has undoubtedly come up) deems lack of return links enough of a poor reader experience to suspend publication until it is rectified. I’ll have to run that by them.

Thanks also, Doitsu, for the related-link. A most informative thread.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by spinster

Thanks, Hitch, for the lowdown, literally. That damned fly is in the ointment again! The question now, one probably impossible to answer, is what percentage of ereaders don’t have back functionality?

No one knows. As I've mentioned, though, I am consistently surprised at the number of older devices that we encounter. Amongst our clients, amongst people on mailing lists (like the Dorothy L) and so forth. I would be very, very hesitant to think about devil taking the hindmost.

If it’s small enough, perhaps one just has to forget about catering to the lowest common denominator, and let the devil take the hindmost. You can’t please everybody. Every few years Mac, and I’m sure everyone else, comes out with a new operating system, and, in time no longer supports the old ones, forcing you to upgrade.

Well, Apple/Mac certainly does. Microsoft, on the other hand, supported XP for 15+ years, and even after it officially abandoned it, it unofficially supported it for at least another two. Amazon still supports the very first Kindle that they made and sold. That type of behavior from manufacturers/sellers engenders loyalty. After my first and only experience with Apple/Mac, I will never--never--buy another Mac or Apple product, for that very reason, having a $1600 product kicked to the curb in less than a year.

I don't think you can compare Mac's behavior--which is strictly as an equipment manufacturer--with others, which have a basket of products. I mean, in this context, about the reality of devices without a back button, and whether you should disregard the older devices.

Apart from lack of a back function, I can’t imagine reading War and Peace on a smart phone or similar Lilliputian screen. It reminds me of Samuel Johnson who, when told of a woman preacher, said, “Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog walking on its hinder legs; it is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all.” But now here’s a return link back to the lack of back function problem: While you mention what a headache this is for you as a formatter, you don’t say how you deal with it, and I suppose that’s because there is no one’s-sighs-fit-all solution.

No, I don't believe I did.

One workaround I recently used in Word to check the links in the index was to open the go-to box and set it to the first page of the index, so that after clicking on a link, it was just a double-click to return to the index. When I got to the end of each page, I reset the page number. But any solution more involved than that, including using the search function, would likely be as much if not more of a pain to the reader than navigating back via the table of contents. Incidentally, I wonder if Amazon (and this has undoubtedly come up) deems lack of return links enough of a poor reader experience to suspend publication until it is rectified. I’ll have to run that by them.

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're suggesting, vis-a-vis using Word and the index? I'm unclear as to how that relates to an eBook. If you mean simply that the user goes whither she will, and then just clicks "go to" and "index," sure, fine. That's pretty much standard practice. I don't understand what you mean, about the "reset the page number," etc.

Thanks also, Doitsu, for the related-link. A most informative thread.

You never actually stated what you're asking about. Are you, indeed, trying to create an index? Or some other use? And what's the use for the book? Public consumption, public sale, private use for a small group, or...?

Hitch

[Ghitulescu]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I know that I'd have loved to think that all devices had back buttons. It would have solved a lot of headache for me. Not to mention, trying to explain the issues around multiple inbound targets, to a client, and getting readers "back" to where they were, in the index, is never fun.

I would also loved to see the back function implemented in epub2. I think it is possible now with epub3 and java.