Users read more books on smartphones than tablets (by Readmill)

[Heitor]

Readmill: users read more books on smartphones than tablets

What is better for reading books: a tablet or a smartphone? Most people would say it’s the tablet. Most common reason would be the bigger screen.

Well, that’s not exactly what comes out of the report presented by Readmill’s CEO and co-founder Henrik Berggren, during Media Evolution conference in Malmö, Sweden, a couple of weeks ago.

A general conclusion is that users spend more time reading on their phones than tablets.

The data don't surprise me, because they go according to my personal experience. Although I obviously find the tablet more comfortable for reading, I find myself spending a lot of time reading on a more portable device (an iPod Touch in my case), that has been enabling me to make more use of "dead time" throughout the day.

[NickyWithNook]

I know quite a few people (younger people - kids of friends so maybe college aged) who read on their phones. I think they just like to do everything on their phones.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by NickyWithNook

I think they just like to do everything on their phones.

They probably have to. Some people seem to actually have replaced their brains with their smartphone. If it's not on the phone, then it didn't happen. Their phone *is* their life.

[faithbw]

That's not surprising. People may not always have their tablets with them but they almost surely have their smartphones with them. Given the availability of smartphone and the increasing screen real estate of smartphones, it seems that people see their phones as a viable e-reader.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by faithbw

That's not surprising. People may not always have their tablets with them but they almost surely have their smartphones with them.

Agreed. I read on my eInk devices, but every now and then I find myself in a waiting room without my eInk reader (like at a car service), so I just open my phone, download the book from Dropbox and resume where I left. Not as great a reading experience as an eInk device or even a tablet, but gets the job done.

[DiapDealer]

What is better for reading books: a tablet or a smartphone? Most people would say it’s the tablet. Most common reason would be the bigger screen.

Well, that’s not exactly what comes out of the report presented by Readmill’s CEO and co-founder Henrik Berggren, during Media Evolution conference in Malmö, Sweden, a couple of weeks ago.

A general conclusion is that users spend more time reading on their phones than tablets.

It might be a mistake to conflate what's "better for" with what "people are doing more of."

I like to think most people would rather not have to "turn the page" every two to five sentences--if they took portability, quick access, convenience and "always with me on the go" out of the equation.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by faithbw

That's not surprising. People may not always have their tablets with them but they almost surely have their smartphones with them. Given the availability of smartphone and the increasing screen real estate of smartphones, it seems that people see their phones as a viable e-reader.

Precisely why I got a Samsung Note 2 last month so that I would have my phone & my reader all on one machine.

Originally Posted by afv011

Agreed. I read on my eInk devices, but every now and then I find myself in a waiting room without my eInk reader (like at a car service), so I just open my phone, download the book from Dropbox and resume where I left. Not as great a reading experience as an eInk device or even a tablet, but gets the job done.

It gets the job done just fine, and everything you need for communicating is all in one handy device.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It might be a mistake to conflate what's "better for" with what "people are doing more of."

I like to think most people would rather not have to "turn the page" every two to five sentences--if they took portability, quick access, convenience and "always with me on the go" out of the equation.

I get a lot more than five sentences on my 5.5 inch device and it's not like it's all that strenuous to push my volume button to turn the page.

People simply like to find excuses to complain and make negative comments about something they are not interested in doing, even if they haven't tried it out for themselves.

There is no right or wrong way to read books, the sooner people get that through their heads and live and let live the better off everyone will be.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

I get a lot more than five sentences on my 5.5 inch device and it's not like it's all that strenuous to push my volume button to turn the page.

People simply like to find excuses to complain and make negative comments about something they are not interested in doing, even if they haven't tried it out for themselves.

There is no right or wrong way to read books, the sooner people get that through their heads and live and let live the better off everyone will be.

I certainly wasn't trying to complain or or make negative comments about the way people read. I frankly don't care enough about how others read to complain about it. I was simply pointing out that the article was conflating two different things.

Besides ... 5.5 inches is getting into that murky phablet area where there's really no point in owners/users excluding themselves from the "reading on a tablet" crowd. You're reading on a small tablet that has a phone built into it (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that).

So yes... I stick to my original claim that I believe people who ARE reading on cellphones (meaning smaller, non-tablet-ish smartphone devices) for convenience and portability would like it if their smaller screen could magically poof out into a larger size that would display more text at once.

Clearly, those who are reading on nearly reader-sized cellphones can feel free to exclude themselves from my sweeping generalization.

[tubemonkey]

I don't read books on LCD devices. Given situations with idle time on my hands, I'll either listen to an audiobook or music. That's where my favorite reader comes into play - my Sansa Clip Zip. It's always with me; my Nexus 4 isn't.

[2bits]

I have added a linux system to my kobo-mini and read all web materials on an EInk screen.

The best part is it is NOT in any way a phone but it fits in my pocket.

Different strokes for different folks.

It's all good.



(see Kobo Developers thread re: kobo-mini to tablet ... )

[Jessica Lares]

I use Freda+ on my Windows Phone. Absolutely love it. They're also known to be the most usable in the sunlight.

[simplyparticular]

I read on a smartphone for 7 years before I bought an e-Ink device, and I only did that in 2010 because Agency + B&N screwed over my Fictionwise/eReader setup. I still read on my tablet in the dark, although now I may do that less now that I have a Paperwhite 2.

[Istvan diVega]

I read almost equally on my phone, tablet and ereader and find them all to be excellent devices for the job.

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by afv011

Agreed. I read on my eInk devices, but every now and then I find myself in a waiting room without my eInk reader (like at a car service), so I just open my phone, download the book from Dropbox and resume where I left. Not as great a reading experience as an eInk device or even a tablet, but gets the job done.

Or drifting on lonely ice floe.

[forsooth]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

They probably have to. Some people seem to actually have replaced their brains with their smartphone. If it's not on the phone, then it didn't happen. Their phone *is* their life.

It started with PDA.