sleeping disorders e-ink related..

[repods]

Hi guys, I have two e-ink readers.. an irex dr800s and an onyx M92..
even when I had only the irex one I noticed that if I let it in the bed near to me when I was sleeping I had some sleep disturbances.. (like can't sleep well, wake up in the night etc..) so I started to put it in another room in the night ad all was solved. Now I noticed that exactly the same thing happens with the onyx M92.. so I'm thinking that is something related to the e-ink technology. So I wanted to know if someone else of you that own an e-ink reader notice the same thing.
Btw I often sleep with the mobile phone in the bed room and never had any kind of problem like that.

[HarryT]

Sounds extremely improbable to me. What are you suggesting is the cause?

[twowheels]

The power of suggestion?

[repods]

Originally Posted by twowheels

The power of suggestion?

well I don't know but I verified it every time..
for this reason I'm asking to someone else to do the same test and let us know
his opinion here in the forum.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by repods

well I don't know but I verified it every time..
for this reason I'm asking to someone else to do the same test and let us know
his opinion here in the forum.

I've slept with eInk devices a foot or so away from me for goodness knows how many years, and never experiences any issues. Speaking with my physicist's hat on for a moment, it's difficult to see how there could be any such cause. A "sleeping" eInk device does not emit any significant level of EM radiation, and that which is does emit is in the radio frequency range. You have radio transmissions constantly passing through your body every moment of the day and night; they do not prevent you from sleeping.

[Latinandgreek]

I've slept with an ebook reader by my head every night for several years now, and I haven't noticed any changes in my sleeping pattern.

[LuvReadin]

Originally Posted by repods

well I don't know but I verified it every time.

You didn't really - at least, not within the framework of a properly devised scientific experiment. To have any legitimacy, the experiment would need to be repeated with someone else removing the device, but not telling you about it. In fact, you'd really need two identical-appearing items (one real ereader, one dummy), so that neither you nor the other person were aware of which one was being removed, and of course, it would have to be repeated over a long period, excluding any other possible causes of sleep disturbance.

I agree with the others that it's highly unlikely the ereader has anything to do with it, but if moving it helps you sleep better, why not?

[spindlegirl]

I read myself to sleep with the e-reader much like I used to with a physical book. I often fall asleep before I make the conscious decision to lay aside the reader and wake up with it either having fallen down or somewhere on the bed.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by repods

so I'm thinking that is something related to the e-ink technology.

No way. It's simple coincidence or auto-suggestion.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by repods

well I don't know but I verified it every time...

This sounds highly improbable.

Try a blind test. Ask your spouse or somebody to toss a coin and depending on the output place an e-ink reader or a decoy into a cardbord box (or a paper bag, or wrap in a piece of cloth) and place it next to your bed. Let them make a [secret] record and you keep the records as well for 20 days. Then compare the nights you could sleep and nights you couldn't with the records of the real thing or the decoy placed next to your bed.
Even better, make a double blind test. Take two identical boxes and place reader into one and dummy with the same weight to the next. Then leave the room and ask your spouse to toss a coin and place one randomly selected box next to your bed and other to next room. Let the spouse record what was in the box next morning (without telling you!). After many days compare records. This is the only way to verify your theory.

Next you proceed with blind experiments with a reader that is switched on/off randomly, with or without battery. You can also experiment by placing the device into a box made from ferromagnetic material (steel), you can experiment with the distance to your bed - try sleeping with the device next to your bed, then 1m distance, 2m distance ...

There are lots of things you can try.

As an engineer that works with electronics, among many other things, I do not think that there is anything in an e-ink display technology that could cause sleeplessness even for the most sensitive person. The above suggested experiments are supposed to prove that there are other factors that cause your problems with sleep.

I personally sleep with an e-ink device next to my head for the last five years. But, when I was a lad I used to sleep in a room with a dozen running old mechanical clocks. I have designed and [re-]built some of them. I can also sleep with the light on, so I might not be an ideal person for comparison ;-)

[CommonReader]

I can confirm this. Whenever there is an eInk device close to my bed I suffer from lack of sleep as I go on reading, reading, reading...
Seriously, though, I have slept like a log with three eInk devices piled up at the head of my bed. Of all the electronic devices one might have in the vicinity of the bed - DECT-phones, mobile phones, iPad etc. - an eInk reader is most likely the least critical one.

[Apache]

Maybe his subconscious is trying to wake him up because it wants him to read to it.
Apache

[Pomtroll]

I have several e-readers in the drawer of the table next to my bed. Same sleep pattern as when I had several paper books on the table. Only thing I can think of is the subconscious mind wanting to finish that book you started.

[carpetmojo]

I think the answer is all too predictable - try reading it, not drinking it ....

[BenBanned]

Placebo or not.
If you sleep better with the reader in another room, you should keep it in the other room.