02-08-2013, 01:53 PM | #61 |
A Hairy Wizard
Posts: 3,215
Karma: 19000635
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Charleston, SC today
Device: iPhone 15/11/X/6/iPad 1,2,Air & Air Pro/Surface Pro/Kindle PW & Fire
|
|
02-09-2013, 05:51 AM | #62 |
out of depth
Posts: 50
Karma: 13490
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Austria, near Lake Constance
Device: iPad2, iPhone 5, Kindle3 3G
|
With reading in the narrow sense - focussing on text itself - there is only so much you can improve. But it does help to get the optimal conditions: Font size, layout, light, weight if the thing you are holding ...
If you get older, you do appreciate being able to simply increase text size and brighten the whole thing - there is a reason why I hardly read paper books at night anymore. There is a new German study that found elderly people actually read more easily on tablets. Even if they do not feel reading easier subjectively, the study shows less brain effort with more legible text (mostly it's the higher contrast that does it). There is a lengthy article in English explaining the results. As to the wider reading experience, there is a lot technology can do: Getting new materials, additional informations, annotations, definitions ... I really doappreciate the ability to look up a word with one tap. And yes, I did catch myself trying to this on paper |
Advert | |
|
02-09-2013, 06:19 AM | #63 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
I've read a book today.
A real one, I mean. Even with all the advantages the ereader has (size, lighting, custom fonts...) it misses one perk: it actually isn't a book. For the sheer experience of reading a book, nothing beats a book. Just like playing a midi-keyboard with virtual instruments will never beat the experience of playing an actual organ or piano. |
02-09-2013, 10:10 AM | #64 | |
Enthusiast
Posts: 37
Karma: 3100894
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Device: Kobo Vox
|
Quote:
Though, I will say that e-readers have made it possible for me to read some of the older books I found on archive.org and other places that, because of their age/rarity, etc., I might never have had the chance to read. |
|
02-09-2013, 10:19 AM | #65 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
Even if I should use my ereader to only read the free classics I can get at various sites, then it will have paid multiple times for itself.
|
Advert | |
|
02-11-2013, 10:00 PM | #66 |
Addict
Posts: 239
Karma: 1280000
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Device: None
|
I think people here underestimate the power of the "cosmetic" improvements to movies to attract and grow a consumer base. Natural, since you guys are readers...but still, the opinion remains. People do find powerful sound effects, surround sound, and animation that appears at lest close to "reality" (or not close, e.g. anime) to be reasons to spend their entertainment money.
Reading engages only the mind - not even vision as a sensory input, really. The full range of effects that can engage vision, hearing, touch (or other physical effects) are powerful additions. Taste and smell are not yet added, but smell is pretty much a given; I'm not sure about taste. |
02-11-2013, 11:12 PM | #67 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 5,185
Karma: 25133758
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
|
Quote:
Modern makeup, sound and lighting technology and did improve stage plays, but not by turning them into movies. |
|
02-11-2013, 11:39 PM | #68 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,309
Karma: 43993832
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Monroe Wisconsin
Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)
|
Quote:
|
|
02-12-2013, 07:27 AM | #69 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 6,111
Karma: 34000001
Join Date: Mar 2008
Device: KPW1, KA1
|
With regard to movies vs. reading: why can so many not watch a 2 hour movie (or longer) without starting too fidget around? Or, are these people the same as the ones who don't have patience for books?
|
02-12-2013, 07:53 AM | #70 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 11,732
Karma: 128354696
Join Date: May 2009
Location: 26 kly from Sgr A*
Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000
|
Quote:
Books you read at your own pace. You can take a bathroom break, raid the fridge, check on the oh-too-quiet kids, and then return right where you were. The theater experience? You're not in control: the thing streams by whether you're paying attention or not and you paid good money so you'd better be paying attention. Very different experiences. If anything, one could argue movie viewing is moving closer to book reading with the increasing popularity of home movie viewing. At home you don't have to deal with the bored kids chattering behind you (or you *can* deal, if they do it) plus you have control: as in pause, rewind, fast-forward. |
|
02-12-2013, 07:58 AM | #71 | |
Philosopher
Posts: 2,034
Karma: 18736532
Join Date: Jan 2012
Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2 gen, Kindle Fire 1st Gen, Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
Home video does let you pause and go back, so you do have more control, but it is clumsy compared to going back and checking something in a book. |
|
02-12-2013, 10:23 AM | #72 | |
Addict
Posts: 239
Karma: 1664052
Join Date: Mar 2011
Device: Kindle 4NT
|
Quote:
I recently read "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood on my Kindle eInk reader. And now that I'm done with it, can you really argue that my experience of reading the book on printed paper would in any substantive way be different from reading it on my Kindle? Are the ideas and descriptions and images not in my head in the same way? I would argue that for any measurement that matters, the ultimate goal of a book is achieved regardless of whether you had a printed page or a screen in front of you. However, I find that I vastly prefer reading on my Kindle. I read faster (strange, but true.) My chess books lay flat and I don't lose my place if I set it down to move pieces on the board. It's easy for me to carry books when I'm out and about, and to carry a "spare" in the event I finish one while I'm away from home. There is actually less glare on the Kindle than on many of my printed books. I can choose a font size that is comfortable for me. And my hands and arms do not get tired holding a 1,000 page book for long periods of time because my Kindle is light no matter how hefty the reading material. I don't need to use extreme care with borrowed books, because I can't damage them with careless page turns, nor am I distracted by other's carelessness. Food smudges clean off the bezel easily, so I can read while eating without fear. Now, as a musician, I can say that you are correct when it comes to real instruments vs the virtual ones. The experience is not the same, but that is because we're creating something - a performance, even if the audience is only ourselves. With a book, we aren't the creator, we're the listener, and for us, it doesn't matter if they used MIDI, oversampling, or a real instrument. If our ears cannot detect the difference, it doesn't matter how it was done. If I were to take your analogy with eBooks to their logical extreme, then it follows that real authors should only write longhand, because anything else takes away from the experience of writing a book. Computers with word processors, spell check and grammar check take away from the creation of the book, and we should go back to a Gutenberg press with real metal letters pressing ink onto the pages (or perhaps even further, to a room full of scribes, painstakingly copying each letter, then the pages handed over to a bookbinder.) |
|
02-12-2013, 11:48 AM | #73 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
|
02-12-2013, 12:26 PM | #74 |
Addict
Posts: 239
Karma: 1664052
Join Date: Mar 2011
Device: Kindle 4NT
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Glo An ebook processing flow that can improve your experience of reading PDF on kobo glo | ghero | Kobo Reader | 28 | 12-31-2012 10:13 PM |
PRS-350 Use Sony-350 Dictionary to improve reading of Kanji characters? | iExilschorsch | Sony Reader | 4 | 04-04-2011 05:53 AM |
How to improve reading | spaze | General Discussions | 30 | 03-18-2011 08:11 PM |
a suggestion to improve the browser experience | AthenaAtDelphi | Amazon Kindle | 10 | 10-10-2010 08:02 PM |
Atria Books Employs New Smart Phone Technology to Add Digital Experience pBooks | simplyparticular | News | 0 | 06-01-2010 10:36 AM |