Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthem
Written up for the Guardian:
Quote:
|
A new study which found that readers using a Kindle were "significantly" worse than paperback readers at recalling when events occurred in a mystery story is part of major new Europe-wide research looking at the impact of digitisation on the reading experience.
|
What do we think? |
If I lose track of an important point in a paper book, I have to skim back over *many* pages to find the relevant part and re-read it. With a Kindle, I search for a term and locate it almost immediately. I find this particularly helpful when I want to review just how a character enters the story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthem
I wonder if a progress bar could effectively replicate the experience of progress that the researchers are talking about.
On my Kindle (5-button) there is a little progress bar at the bottom that tracks your position both in the book and within the chapter you are currently reading. I look at it frequently.
I mean... do people have this problem with movies? And there is no stack of paper being shifted from one hand to the next when you watch a movie. Sure, there is the passage of time, but you have the exact same thing happening when you are reading an e-book.
|
I didn't read the study (yet), but I'm also one who likes the progress bar on the bottom of the screen. Not only does it show me my absolute place in the book, but how far I am from a new chapter and how long I've been reading in this session. In a movie theater, I check my watch a couple of times to see how long the show has been going. At home, I have a large clock right next to the TV screen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthem
A very important part of reading effectively is knowing your self and what works the best for you. I like the progress bar on my Kindle and seeing where I started and how far I got in that session. I do a similar thing when reading paper books where I have this weird tendency to bunch together the pages I read to see how far I got when I finish.
|
Yeah, that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex2002ans
I haven't touched a physical book in years, and I would take digital over physical any day of the week, if not for all of the indirect benefits as well (searchability, copy/pastability). EVEN IF I didn't absorb the information as well the first time, I can easily search and find the exact section I am looking for, and read it again.
|
I still read lots of books printed on paper. 2014 is the first year where the number of eBooks has exceeded pBooks -- and I think that's primarily due to the fact that my library now loans digital books. Digital has the benefit of portability and the search and copy/paste functions are definitely nice. Since I don't *read* for content, only for entertainment, I don't really measure "retention" or "absorption". I do reference printed and online documentation in my job, but I don't *read* this from front to back as one reads a book. (No textbooks for me, just technical manuals.)