Ergonomics of ereading

Liviu_5 · 06-28-2006, 12:04 PM

Hi,

I am not sure that it is the appropriate forum but I think that it would be useful if people would share their ebook reading experience from an ergonomics point of view (how convenient is to hold the device, to turn pages, to read standing, eating, whatever) since that to me is an important part of the reading experience - personally I do most of my pleasure reading reclining so that is another reason I find it hard to read books on pc/laptops with their sitting position, though I find it easy to work 8 hours a day in front of 5 screens.

Of the 2 devices I have, Ebookwise is the best for general reading since it gives you the solid feel you have with a book, you can hold it in the left hand and turn the pages also for a long time, and if you tire you can turn the pages upside down so you can use it with the right hand, the only annoying thing being that the page forward button becomes the lower one, and the page backward the upper one, while the stylus sits downward. The book access and navigation are great since you can move the stylus on the page line and the numbers flick in front of you and you can stop wherever you want.

On the go, or standing or even in bed the Nokia is very easy to use, though being so fragile you have to pay attention at holding it. I use it right handed cupping it in my hand since being right handed it comes naturally for more demanding tasks (say holding the Nokia as opposed to holding Ebookwise) to use that hand, but again you can turn the pages to hold it left handed, though the same annoying thing about buttons holds. Here you can actually customize your buttons for Fbreader but you have to do it each time, so I keep the regular settings. I have used the Nokia on my exercise treadmill, standing in line at the supermarket, walking... but less when eating since I have it to keep it closer to my eyes than it is convenient for eating. The Ebookwise is better to use when eating since you can hold it farther from the eyes.
Navigation and book access are ok, loading time is noticeable for bigger books (not instantaneous as for Ebk) and for the moment Fbreader has a navigation line that is not paginated so you have to estimate.

Liviu

Pride Of Lions · 06-30-2006, 02:53 AM

Well, I'm an iSilo kinda guy but I have a few other (freeware) readers on my Palm OS PDA. Egonomically speaking, since I really only e-read at night in bed, I like the auto-scroll feature except when I fall asleep and the eBook is done when I wake up. (Bookmarks are good to remember places and such.)

Currently I have a Zodiac2 with its default landscape mode, which is nice for making long sentences, but even in it's portrait mode (or on my older portrait mode PDA's) I find that the reading experience is do-able. Some things I do to enhance the experience are to make the font bigger than pBook size and set the auto-scroll to a comfortable speed and the brightness to a comfortable level.. These things help to make e-reading pleasurable and non-straining to me.

Xenophon · 07-02-2006, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liviu_5

...
Of the 2 devices I have, Ebookwise is the best for general reading since it gives you the solid feel you have with a book, you can hold it in the left hand and turn the pages also for a long time, and if you tire you can turn the pages upside down so you can use it with the right hand, the only annoying thing being that the page forward button becomes the lower one, and the page backward the upper one, while the stylus sits downward. The book access and navigation are great since you can move the stylus on the page line and the numbers flick in front of you and you can stop wherever you want.
...
Liviu

On my REB1100, switching from left-handed to right-handed and back correctly switches the page-forward button too. This means that the page forward button is alsways the one that naturally sits below your thumb. On the down-side, the "move the stylus on the page line" functionality usually doesn't work on my unit.

Xenophon

PostGrant · 07-06-2006, 02:04 PM

I do the switching thing with the REB/EBW1150 to, but also find I can hold it with left hand orientation in my right hand - with my right hand holding it from behind, so my index finger turns the pages and my thumb is holding it on the right side.

It gives me a few more minutes of reading, at least. Damn heavy, though.

06-28-2006, 12:04 PM	#1
Liviu_5 Books and more books Posts: 917 Karma: 69499 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: White Plains, NY, USA Device: Nook Color, Itouch, Nokia770, Sony 650, Sony 700(dead), Ebk(given)	Ergonomics of ereading Hi, I am not sure that it is the appropriate forum but I think that it would be useful if people would share their ebook reading experience from an ergonomics point of view (how convenient is to hold the device, to turn pages, to read standing, eating, whatever) since that to me is an important part of the reading experience - personally I do most of my pleasure reading reclining so that is another reason I find it hard to read books on pc/laptops with their sitting position, though I find it easy to work 8 hours a day in front of 5 screens. Of the 2 devices I have, Ebookwise is the best for general reading since it gives you the solid feel you have with a book, you can hold it in the left hand and turn the pages also for a long time, and if you tire you can turn the pages upside down so you can use it with the right hand, the only annoying thing being that the page forward button becomes the lower one, and the page backward the upper one, while the stylus sits downward. The book access and navigation are great since you can move the stylus on the page line and the numbers flick in front of you and you can stop wherever you want. On the go, or standing or even in bed the Nokia is very easy to use, though being so fragile you have to pay attention at holding it. I use it right handed cupping it in my hand since being right handed it comes naturally for more demanding tasks (say holding the Nokia as opposed to holding Ebookwise) to use that hand, but again you can turn the pages to hold it left handed, though the same annoying thing about buttons holds. Here you can actually customize your buttons for Fbreader but you have to do it each time, so I keep the regular settings. I have used the Nokia on my exercise treadmill, standing in line at the supermarket, walking... but less when eating since I have it to keep it closer to my eyes than it is convenient for eating. The Ebookwise is better to use when eating since you can hold it farther from the eyes. Navigation and book access are ok, loading time is noticeable for bigger books (not instantaneous as for Ebk) and for the moment Fbreader has a navigation line that is not paginated so you have to estimate. Liviu

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06-30-2006, 02:53 AM	#2
Pride Of Lions just kinda geeky Posts: 381 Karma: 30 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Oakland, California Device: iPhone	Well, I'm an iSilo kinda guy but I have a few other (freeware) readers on my Palm OS PDA. Egonomically speaking, since I really only e-read at night in bed, I like the auto-scroll feature except when I fall asleep and the eBook is done when I wake up. (Bookmarks are good to remember places and such.) Currently I have a Zodiac2 with its default landscape mode, which is nice for making long sentences, but even in it's portrait mode (or on my older portrait mode PDA's) I find that the reading experience is do-able. Some things I do to enhance the experience are to make the font bigger than pBook size and set the auto-scroll to a comfortable speed and the brightness to a comfortable level.. These things help to make e-reading pleasurable and non-straining to me.

07-06-2006, 02:04 PM	#4
PostGrant Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 27 Join Date: Mar 2005 Device: eBookWise, Dell Axim X5	I do the switching thing with the REB/EBW1150 to, but also find I can hold it with left hand orientation in my right hand - with my right hand holding it from behind, so my index finger turns the pages and my thumb is holding it on the right side. It gives me a few more minutes of reading, at least. Damn heavy, though.

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