Quote:
Originally Posted by eschwartz
Yes, that is why electronic devices have a search function.  Flipping through is a terribly inelegant and inefficient way of searching for stuff.
All I can say is, I find myself looking things up from previously-in-the-book more often now that I read from said electronic device.  |
I disagree, for two reasons.
1. Flipping through can be useful for understanding.
Serendipity, for example - accidentally coming across something interesting and pausing for a moment to read it. Perhaps not efficient - as it is a diversion of the original task, but useful nonetheless as a general part of increasing understanding and pleasurable reading of the text.
2. Flipping through can be faster in many situations
Try timing yourself as you search for something. It takes quite a while to bring up the menu, hit search, carefully type in the word(s) without typos, and select the right page from the results. Often, the users sense of context and physical location in a paper book allows them to quickly flip to the correct page in seconds. The key is to replicate this in an ereader.
I find search is quite useful when looking for multiple instances of things - e.g. "Snape" in a Harry Potter book, or if its something that I literally have no idea where it is - perhaps having not read that far.