Print v iPads: books win!

Discussion in 'News' started by Mr.Cheeks, Jul 9, 2010.

  1. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    The speed race, at least. Books are faster and 'more relaxing' to read, but iPads and Kindles are 'more satisfying', finds new study

    E-book readers might be heralded as the future of literature but a new report shows that it's still quicker to read the old-fashioned print version of a book.


    The study, by Jakob Nielsen from the Nielsen Norman Group, gave 24 people a short story by Ernest Hemingway to read – chosen because "his work is pleasant and engaging to read, and yet not so complicated that it would be above the heads of users".

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Comments

    1. michael78
      michael78

      I was tempted to buy an ipad or an ebook reader but I find reading for long periods on a PC a strain on my eyes. Are they better to read on as I heard they have a coating to reduce strain.
    2. billyr
      billyr
      The dedicated e-book readers such as the kindle, sone e-reader etc are great to read on, probably as close you'll get to reading a book. I don't imagine the same would apply for an IPad, i'd think it would be pretty much the same as reading from your laptop screen.
    3. dales
      dales
      the sony reader at the moment is no good for technical books or anything with diagrams and styled text. The reader just seems to be for simple books ( I guess in the same way you could compare notepad and word for example).
    4. skulkerboyo
      skulkerboyo
      No real noticeable difference between paper and an E-book reader so go with E-ink

      I have an ebook reader. Great for sunny study sessions nd portability. Getting a bit hacked off with them being compared to iPads though. Makes me realise how much people are missing the point of E-ink and how few people have seen it in action.

      BTW we like the feel of a book but when you're lugging the MCSE core requirements set around somehow an ebook reader makes sense. My technical libray lives primarily on my reader

      Edit - do agree with dales though. large technical diagrams etc aren't too hot on them right now - Reading Project + on mine at the mo though and thats devoid of diagrams
      Last edited: Jul 9, 2010
    5. Simonvm
      Simonvm
      I'll take good old fashion paper anytime.
      It's cheap, easy on the eyes and it does not run out of batteries :)
    6. Josiahb
      Josiahb
      I've got to stick with paper I'm afraid, can't beat the feel of a real book. I still buy most of my fiction from actual brick and mortar bookstores as well, I like to browse and take my time finding something to read.
    7. michael78
      michael78

      That was the other issue I read that diagrams are slow to load on the current crop of ebooks. Also can you transfer PDF's to ebooks or do they have to be bought from say their library?
    8. Gingerdave
      Gingerdave

      having played with an ipad for a bit, its actually not bad - the nearest in terms to tricking me into an actual book, the display is wide enough so that it looks like a paperback and the animation of the page turn that follos you finger, again little things to trick the mind.

      The screen was pretty good for it, however reading outside I dont think would be good, dude to apples love of a glossy coating.

      Its the best of the ones I have tried but I dont think my 250 title library is in any threat just yet.
    9. billyr
      billyr
      The glossy coating is what would put me off buying it as an e-reader. I bought my Sony e-reader primarily to save me lugging text books on holiday and found it was great in bright sunshine.

      Like others have mentioned though it was terrible for pdf diagrams. It's fine if you want to view the diagram on it's own, you simply use the zoom feature if they are a bit small. The problem comes when you are trying to read the text that accompanies the diagram as invariably it ends up on a different page. I also found the response time for zooming and page turning particularly infuriating. As well as this it was pretty poor at converting tables.

      It now resides in a cupboard only to be used if I ever manage to get away anywhere again.
    10. Phoenix
      Phoenix
      the iPad most certainly does not replace a dedicated ebook reader for hardcore readers, fiction fans, and people who read a lot of plaintext (legal people maybe?)

      that said
      as a technology consultant, i find myself requiring reference material usually in an office or comms room, not on the beach under direct sunlight :)

      I currently have all of my diving materials, instructor guides, teaching guides, standards documents, blank forms, and even scanned some of the larger instructor manuals that didnt come in PDF (my Emergency First Response instructor manual is about 200MB of scanned PDF and my Divers Alert Network Instructor manuals are about 150MB)

      On the tech side i have most of my MS, Cisco press libraries on there (they all seem to come with PDF copies these days, yay for progress!)
      and yes I have comfortably read for a few hours on the device without strain on my eyes.. that said I've spent most of my life reading off screens, so i may just be weird and desensitized! :D

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