Firmware Update How to add Bionic formatted books to your Kindle

[kyrilson]

I haven’t tried this, and I’m a bit skeptical about this Bionic format, but I did find this interesting.

https://ebookfriendly.com/bionic-reading-kindle-how-to/

Note: somehow I tagged this post in Tapatalk as a Firmware update and I can’t turn it off. It is not.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Quoth]

It looks ghastly.

Is there any proper evidence for this?

I really really hope the crayon depts controlling web page design and formatting of paper & ebook don't embrace this.

The word bionic, coined by Jack E. Steele in August 1958, is a portmanteau from biology and electronics[2] that was popularized by the 1970s U.S. television series The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman, both based upon the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin. All three stories feature humans given various superhuman powers by their electromechanical implants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics

An aside
The Six Million Dollar Man was poor SF akin to magic. The real future of body repair isn't electronic ears, ccd cameras in the fake eye, titanium bones, false teeth implanted to jaw or mechanical hearts but regrowing damaged or missing parts. Some progress on teeth and cultures of skin and muscle cells from the original organism. How many mechanical systems are self repairing and last over 100 years?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kyrilson

I haven’t tried this, and I’m a bit skeptical about this Bionic format, but I did find this interesting.

https://ebookfriendly.com/bionic-reading-kindle-how-to/

Note: somehow I tagged this post in Tapatalk as a Firmware update and I can’t turn it off. It is not.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I just tried an ePub with the online Bionic converter and the results made my eyes cross. It is awful.

[Quoth]

And maybe also they get a copy for free!

It's a fashion statement. Looks like bad typing!

[hleo12]

I've seen this on an adhd (I'm not diagnosed) page on twitter. While the reactions are mixed, I do find reading this way to be easier. It's like my eyes have a guide on where they should focus. Sometimes when I'm trying to read, my brain is just not cooperating and the whole page looks like one jumbled mess.

The major problem I see here is the company itself seems to be very greedy, charging up to 500 bucks if you wanna use their "AI" on your content/website. They are already threatening lawsuits to anyone making their own (as if making the first few letters of each word bold is groundbreaking). And a few have pointed out that there is no study behind this. The whole thing seems to be easily replicable.

Personally I'd like to have this option on those days where I just can't process any words on the page.

[btiu]

I converted a book using their free converter, and it was the first time for me to finish multiple chapters in one sitting! I would usually quit after a few pages on a normally formatted book, but this one helped me read without frying my brain out. I would really love for this to be supported eventually.

That said, the patents surrounding it may be controversial if only because the process looks simple. But I think the guy should be recompensated somehow for putting his research into something that actually works for a lot of people. Hope we can get a good compromise.

[Quoth]

What research?

I see no sensible research. It's anecdotal. A decent screen (resolution, lack of glare, contrast, brightness),decent font, size of font and correct reading glasses are proven factors.

All sorts of things are regularly asserted about reading with almost no evidence and lack of proper trials, such as use of "Open Dyslexic" font, coloured glasses. This is simply an attempt to sell something. Without serious proof it's pseudo-science. The attempts to sue anyone doing this show the motivation. It certainly shouldn't get or have a patent or copyright, but lots of erroneous patents exist.

[Quoth]

There isn't even any conclusive evidence yet on serif vs sans fonts for reading. It may be what you are used to works best for novels. Sans was preferred originally for websites due to lack of resolution to do decent serif fonts properly. It's also culture and language specific.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

And maybe also they get a copy for free!

It's a fashion statement. Looks like bad typing!

It just looks unreadable.

[hleo12]

If a single person could replicate their "research" (meanwhile claiming their team has 3000 developers) then I don't think they should even file a patent for it, let alone charge astronomical fees for something they claim to help with accessibility.

[meeera]

It doesn't work for me, just like I don't like some popular fonts, but I also don't understand why some people seem to get so very angry about it. Reactions obviously vary widely, and no-one going to force it on you if you don't want to read this way. More power to people who do - I'm glad you found something useful to you.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by hleo12

If a single person could replicate their "research" (meanwhile claiming their team has 3000 developers) then I don't think they should even file a patent for it, let alone charge astronomical fees for something they claim to help with accessibility.

You need more than one person tested to prove it works and 3,000 developers is fantasy for this. I worked in R&D for 30 years. Developing such a thing is trivial. Proving it works with suitable readability tests on carefully selected subjects is hard. Self selected people and self reported results are worthless.

Originally Posted by meeera

It doesn't work for me, just like I don't like some popular fonts, but I also don't understand why some people seem to get so very angry about it. Reactions obviously vary widely, and no-one going to force it on you if you don't want to read this way. More power to people who do - I'm glad you found something useful to you.

Choice is good.
I always fear something hyped being foisted on people. Like so called "Modern Design" which is just a copy of corporate paper design and throws out over 30 years of GUI research for an appearance (Android, Windows 10 etc) with no evidence.

This can easily be replicated in a few days and done as plugin by one person who is familiar with writing plugins for the target system (Word, LO Writer, Sigil, Calibre, various Adobe tools). It's simple. But absolutely should only ever be an option. It's a gimmick to make money!

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I always fear something hyped being foisted on people.

I can't foresee any mechanism to force this upon your ereader against your will, any more than someone could suddenly unilaterally decide that everyone reads their ebooks in Papyrus font from now on.

[hleo12]

If anything, it would just probably be a switch you turn on the font/accessibility settings.

I find text easier to read with bionic reading, but I'm not gonna convert my books individually just to get the effect. That's too much work. Their online covert tool probably doubles as market research to let them know what to target.

That company is just after money, and they're threatening individuals who are making something similar to their product. If they really cared about accessibility, they wouldn't be acting that way.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by meeera

I can't foresee any mechanism to force this upon your ereader against your will, any more than someone could suddenly unilaterally decide that everyone reads their ebooks in Papyrus font from now on.

I agree, but as Adams or Pratchett or maybe A.C. Clarke wrote: "Never underestimate the ingenuity of idiots."

It's why after about 25 years I switched from Windows to Linux for the desktop. I didn't like what was being foisted on me.