Reading App Lets You Blaze Through 1,000 Words-per-Minute

[Blow_Pop]

It's important to remember that "Reading" comprehending, and enjoying are all separate from each other. I can read well over 500 WPM easily but it isn't enjoyable to do so.

I was thinking this exact same thing. Just because I can read at that speed doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it or comprehend it. And if I'm not enjoying or comprehending it what's the point of it.

I can speed read already and while the embedded gif is slightly faster I occasionally miss concepts, themes and story-points when reading that fast.

There is also this fact.


Plus it already only takes me 2-3 hours to read any of the Harry Potter books. Or any of the Lord of the Rings books. I'm a very avid reader. My vocabulary and reading speed come from practically coming out of my mum's womb with a book in my hands. I don't go anywhere without a book. I get a satisfaction from an actual book. You get the feeling of the weight of the book, the feeling of turning the pages, the scent of the book, the ability to not have to do things to slow or rewind things to re-read something if you feel you missed it. And I don't know about everyone else as I use the kindle app on my phone occasionally but e-readers don't bother me unless my eyes are already hurting. And all I can foresee with this is more people needing glasses, contacts, or corrective surgery after long exposures to this. Kind of like most (Americans at least) people of my generation are now having the hearing problems of people twice their age because we all use to blast the hell out of our music even with headphones on. It's already not advised to stare at a screen for prolonged periods of time (or last I heard at least). I can also see people like my mother trying to use that to read and getting frustrated at it and missing half of what's going on. Yeah, she's a fast reader but she still misses things sometimes and has to go back and re-read them to make sure she's got them. Hell, I even have those moments from time to time. Personally, for me and people I know, I see no use or value in it. Because without the comprehension or enjoyment (which both get lost in me just trying to read that gif...due to blinking and my brain not quickly processing things as it needs to for that gif I wound up having to watch it about 5 times to catch everything)what's the point of reading? Maybe other people can see the point but really, I can't. And that's just my own experience. Which is why if I don't comprehend or enjoy something, I won't read it. If I comprehend it but don't enjoy it, depending on what it is, I'll probably still read it. If I enjoy it but don't comprehend it, I'll probably read it and re-read it til I comprehend it(been there, done that...yay physics and quantum mechanics).

Everyone will have their own preferences and I realise and accept this. Some people prefer e-readers whether out of convenience or space saving or what have you and that's fine. Some people (like me) prefer physical books and that's fine too. Some people don't like to read and much as it bothers me, it's still fine. Some people enjoy reading. Others don't. I'm not going to try and tell people that this way is inherently right or wrong as different people like/do different things/things differently. I mean hell, if someone wants to remain ignorant, that is their right. but it's also my right to ask them to stay away from certain topics with me. Or to just not converse/be around me ever. So, for some, I can see this working great for them. Others I see it being more a hindrance than a help.

 

[Strazdas]

im a slow reader. really slow reader. i usually catch myself slowing down and reading things twice as slow as i should (and could) be reading, speed up for a bit but then slow down again.
Still, i find reading stuff like that GIF quite annoying and unlikely i will ever use it.

the biggest problem with e readers is how they handle the movement and feel to navigate throught their product i.e a digitalized book.

and i am quite shocked they didnt improve it already.

with a book, turning the pages gives you a heptik feedback with the additional bonus that you have a clear break and re entry point into the text. the text ends and it continues on the next page. clean and simple.

with most e readers you scroll up and all the lines become fuzzy for a second, it suffers the same problems you have with reading longer texts on your pc.

this second already has the potential to disturb the reader so much that they tend to lose their orientation in the text. they have to invest more time to re orientate themselves by reading some lines again and determine if they already read it or not, if this was their break and re-entry point or not.
of course, this can become so tedious that people tend to lose interest in a text and never finish it.

experienced readers might highlight words with their mouse to orientate themselves better, but that is barely possible on e readers.

this is my theory why e readers "suck" in comparison with books. there are of course other points why they cant reach the quality of having a text in book form(smell, feeling of texture, feeling of ownership), but i think this is the biggest hinderance about e readers today.

Have you actually tried an E-reader? because its nothing like what you decribed.
There are page turning and even page forming based on font and size you define yourself for optimal experience. Pages are oftenr turned by a press of a button, so there is actual feedback - pressing the button and releasing it.
Scrolling only exists in extra support on books where text is formed as an image, however thats mostly limited to badly OCRed self-scanned documents and not actual e-books.

The problems you decribe is visible in PCs scrolnig through PDFs, but e-readers work differently.

Dont get me wrong, i not saying e-readers are perfect, but you seem to hate them for all the wrong reasons that arent even true.

 

[dochmbi]

This seems like a really bad idea as I have already noticed how much shorter my span of attention has gotten with so much information available all the time, heck I was watching a documentary on the russian revolution and feel compelled to constantly switch tabs and read about other stuff at the same time.

I really need to read books again and focus so that my brain doesn't completely forget how to fully concentrate on just one thing.

 

[lacktheknack]

But why?

I kept up with that gif just fine, but the FUN part of reading is reading a chunk, extracting writing methods, dissecting the "Why" of how something is written, painting a mental picture, relaxing as you think... none of which happens at 500 wpm or faster.