Ergonomics and the e-book Reader

[CWatkinsNash]

Mine feels more comfortable to use when it's in the cover. I don't like to use it naked because it feels too light and too thin. In fact, I don't think I've taken it out of the cover since the day it went in. It's a cheap cover, same style as the Amazon covers but fake leather and four little corner straps instead of the metal hinges. When I'm reading, I usually fold the front around the back and latch it that way.

I do have a tendency to accidentally turn pages when I sit it down or pick it up, but there's nowhere else I'd rather those page turn buttons be, so I don't mind.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Anthem

It occurs to me now that most of these e-reading machines are pretty much just rectangles with varying levels of understanding of the human hand. For instance, the insane thinness of a lot of these machines is starting to look like a bad thing to me because the way I end up having to hold them is so patently artificial that my hands get all weird. I'm a big gripper. I like to get my hands all over my books and really get a good hold on them and to frequently change my hand positions to avoid stiffness. I really can't do any of that with my e-book reading devices and I'm beginning to get very aggravated.

The thinness is beautiful but it is causing me cramps.

The hard plastics and metals are nice (and cheap!) but they result in the strangest points of pressure and discomfort in my hands.

The lightness is great but it is eclipsed by other basic issues.

And so, I am wondering if anyone else has any issues with the ergonomics of these machines? I'm getting the impression that the engineers understand very little hand biology.

Love everything the manufacturers are doing? Hate the trends? Want change? Let us know.

You might like the Ectaco jetBook Lite which has a golfball dimpled battery
compartment on the back that forms a nice hand hold. It also works to raise
the top of the display when in landscape mode, and placing the reader on a
flat surface.

By holding the battery compartment, you have the heaviest portion in hand
making for great one handed reading balance. The page turning options
include a switch handy for any orientation of the display.

Luck;
Ken

[Anthem]

Many interesting posts, everyone!

A strange quasi-census converging on the original Kindle almost emerged there on the first page of responses.

So, it seems I am not the only one who thinks about the comfort of these devices.

[Caltsar]

As electronics get smaller and thinner, it almost seems as if they are being made to be used with a case. Before, the case was a bulky way to protect your phone, ebook reader, or whatever you were using, but now I find my iPhone and iPad are easier to hold with cases on. It gives a bit of individuality, some protection, and a better ergonomic feel when the device plus the case can be made to feel right in my hands. I no longer have to compromise between the device I want and the device that feels right. I can get the device I want, find the right case for it, and turn it both into the device I want and the device that feels right.

My nook, on the other hand, is both the device I want and the device that feels right... one of those lucky times where a company designs a product that is perfect for me without any modification

[DMB]

I find my Kindle 3 (with case) is easier to hold than most dead-tree books, which always seem to want to close themselves.

[Anthem]

Originally Posted by DMB

I find my Kindle 3 (with case) is easier to hold than most dead-tree books, which always seem to want to close themselves.

"...dead-tree books...", Oh my, how dramatic! (Quote from Hackers: "Ugh, hard copy!) (Just try not to think about the processes required to create and dispose of our plastic and board and circuit little rectangles of electronic wonderment! And try to forget about batteries and the ever growing consumption of electricity and on and on. E-book vs. Printed book: They both have blood on their hands and there are more or less responsible ways to go after both!)

That's only because you don't buy quality printed books! A properly made book will lie flat, no problem.

Guess how many printers and publishers actually make good quality books? (I don't know the answer but if you guess anything countable by a single human hand or possibly two I would say you are right). But the answer is embarassing. Then again, why should they make really nice books? Most people just purchase books that won't live in our imaginations beyond next week, so why should the actual item we read the story from last any longer?

I wonder what the e-book equivalents of cheaply produced mass market paperbacks and hardcovers are or will be? So far I would say the equivalent is the complete lack of editors for quite a few e-editions of a given title. I'm sure the future will reveal a scale of economy that will be as easily recognizable as the one in place at this very moment in the world of printed material.

I'm gonna purchase a better (better than ex-point, anyway) bi-fold style case for my Kobo and see if that can assuage my wrists.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Anthem

It occurs to me now that most of these e-reading machines are pretty much just rectangles with varying levels of understanding of the human hand. For instance, the insane thinness of a lot of these machines is starting to look like a bad thing to me because the way I end up having to hold them is so patently artificial that my hands get all weird. I'm a big gripper. I like to get my hands all over my books and really get a good hold on them and to frequently change my hand positions to avoid stiffness. I really can't do any of that with my e-book reading devices and I'm beginning to get very aggravated.

The thinness is beautiful but it is causing me cramps.

The hard plastics and metals are nice (and cheap!) but they result in the strangest points of pressure and discomfort in my hands.

The lightness is great but it is eclipsed by other basic issues.

And so, I am wondering if anyone else has any issues with the ergonomics of these machines? I'm getting the impression that the engineers understand very little hand biology.

Love everything the manufacturers are doing? Hate the trends? Want change? Let us know.

And if you bought a case for your e-book reader? It would be thicker. You could buy a case that was softer. After reading your post, though, I could understand aggravation.

[jumpuphigh]

I'm the exact opposite. Part of what attracted me to my Sony 650 was its thin, light shape. I can read it one-handed. It isn't too heavy for me to manage. I don't have to stress my fingers by holding open the pages of a pbook. I don't want a case except to protect it when I am taking it from point A to point B.

[J. Strnad]

Originally Posted by mollybo

You know what had excellent ergonomics? The Rocket eBook. It was weighted and curved to fit into your hand, with the page turn button right under my thumb, and you could switch the buttons if you chose. You could also rotate the display if you wanted to switch hands. I wonder how hard it would be to take the guts out and stuff an eink display in one ...

Sigh. You had to bring that up, didn't you? Thinking of the Rocket is like remembering that girl in college who was great but ran off with a drug dealer. So much potential, so tragically wasted.

[K-Thom]

You know what had excellent ergonomics? The Rocket eBook.

Yup, I have to totally agree! The Rocket eBook had by far the most ergonomic design - and that was over ten years ago! You really have to wonder what today's designers are smoking ...

[OtterBooks]

Most people just purchase books that won't live in our imaginations beyond next week, so why should the actual item we read the story from last any longer?

so true.

[JSWolf]

I find holding my 650 with a cover on makes it easier to hold. Plis, I have a nice light and some protection.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Sigh. You had to bring that up, didn't you? Thinking of the Rocket is like remembering that girl in college who was great but ran off with a drug dealer. So much potential, so tragically wasted.

I keep wanting someone to look at the Rocket and say, "let's build this again, only lighter because batteries are smaller now, and with a card slot that works *with* the other memory, and an OS that reads modern ebook formats."

Because yeah, absolutely best ergonomic ebook reader ever made. A bit heavy, but that could be fixed now, because the tech is better.

[ManosHandsOfFate]

I found holding my K3 very uncomfortable until I bought a cheapy case on eBay. I fold back the cover and hold it with my index finger between the front and back covers.

[outlander78]

Originally Posted by jumpuphigh

I'm the exact opposite. Part of what attracted me to my Sony 650 was its thin, light shape. I can read it one-handed. It isn't too heavy for me to manage. I don't have to stress my fingers by holding open the pages of a pbook. I don't want a case except to protect it when I am taking it from point A to point B.

Me too. I swapped reading on my notebook before bed with reading my 650, and I found that my shoulder and neck strain (day+night in front of a computer) went away.

I wrap my hand around the back of the device, and flip pages with my thumb. If I were to pinch it as I gather others do, and as I used to hold novels, I would expect problems as described.

One of the main reasons I bought the 650 was the touch screen - I suspect clicking every page will also lead to RSI problems for many avid ereaders.