November 5th, 2009 | posted by: Eva

How the Brain Handles Screen-Reading

Amazon Kindle

Have you ever wondered how our brains deal with digital reading?

Think about it: for years, centuries, we humans have been reading primarily from paper. Now, reading from a screen is becoming as popular, if not more popular, than reading print! Many of us read the news, magazines, blogs, and of course our mail on our computers or mobile devices. E-Books are becoming widely available too.

How do our brains handle this new medium? The New York Times Opinion article Does the Brain like E-Books? has a couple of explanations. In the article, experts address such issues as the balance between focal and peripheral attention (which, incidentally, is disrupted in reading whether from a screen or from traditional print). Do you think people read faster on screen or paper? How is comprehension affected?

Jonah Lehrer, in his article, Reading, E-Books and the Brain, reminds us that the brain is extremely adaptable and that “we excel at developing new habits.” He speculates that “before long, digital ink will feel just as easy as actual ink.”

Check it out! It’s pretty interesting to think about reading from the perspective of your brain.

June 22nd, 2009 | posted by: Lynette

Kindle Concerns

The third version of Amazon’s Kindle will be shipping out on June 26, 2009. It is called the Kindle DX and reviewers are complaining that it is not that different from the Kindle 2 and that there is perhaps just not enough bang for your buck – or, make that your $498 bucks.

True, the DX has a bigger screen (9.7 ” diagonal compared to 6″), making the viewing area about the same as a hardcover book. This increases the weight of the device (now 18.9 oz). The storage capacity is larger, but as Rob Pegoraro points out in his Washington Post article (G1, 6/21/09), who really needs to carry 3,500 books around at one time?

Amazon is still having some issues with displaying images. Apparently a photo-negative image flashes on the screen before the real image displays, and we’re stuck with the 16 shades of gray.

I’ll admit that the Kindle Store’s 307,420 titles are impressive. Something new is that three newspapers: The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The New York Times will offer a discounted DX to their readers who subscribe to their Kindle editions. However, there is a catch; the offer is limited to customers outside of the papers’ subscription area. For instance, The Washington Post’s offer will be limited to subscribers in the Baltimore area.

Cost is my main grumble about the Kindle. For a device that does just one thing, that’s pretty expensive. Downloads of books for the Kindle don’t represent any significant savings (most are about $10) over buying print copies. And while it is certainly convenient for Amazon that readers cannot loan or resell a book, I personally would find that a drawback.

I am much more intrigued by Apple’s iTunes model. On the App Store, not only can you find games, music, podcasts, and other applications as well as books, most apps are under $5. And the iPhone itself is a fraction of the cost of the Kindle!

In conclusion, before I would spend close to $500 on a digital device to read books, I’d want to be able to use it for other things as well. I guess I am not convinced yet.

June 5th, 2009 | posted by: Lynette

Choices for Book Formats

When I was a kid, if I wanted to read a book, I’d ask my mom to take me to the library. There, I’d browse or look for something specific, and I remember being quite pleased with the variety of stories available. It wasn’t until I was in college that I began to frequent the large chain bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble, with their shiny, swanky stores, large selections of books, CDs, DVDs and gourmet coffee and tea. Now I’ve heard that Borders may be failing, unable to keep up with the online ordering options from sites like Amazon. 

A visit to Amazon’s website to search for a title reveals a truly awesome number of choices. You can buy a new or used copy of the book with various binding options (hardcover, paperback, library binding, etc.), you can purchase a download and see the book on your Kindle in less than 60 seconds, and audio and DVD versions of the book are also available.

I find it curious that the consumer market would demand so many choices for something so simple as a book. I think it all points to the fact that we want what we want, where and when we want it. The digital age delivers that pretty well.

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