Do you think ebook reading is effective than Paper books?

[zyh]

hi, this is a simple question.
I think reading an ebook on the computer screen is LESS effective then reading a paper books. Sometimes, my eyes feel pain especiall the ebook scrolling on the screen.
So, I think it's more effective and healthy way to read on papers.
Do you think so?
Hope for your thoughts.Thanks.

 

[rootX]

no.

but, e-books are free

 

[lisab]

I hate reading a lot of script on the screen! I strongly prefer reading from paper. But I always thought that it's because I'm in my 40s.

 

[humanino]

There is one very convenient thing with ebook, it's the search function, especially for technical books used as a reference.

 

[zyh]

There are a lot of ebooks on the internet which are illegal copy of the original paper books..
As I don't have enough money to buy and Honestly I have download them to read
God will punish me...

 

[lisab]

There is one very convenient thing with ebook, it's the search function, especially for technical books used as a reference.

Oh yes, good point - I completely agree with this...the search function is one of the best inventions ever!

But for sitting and reading, I still prefer paper. I'm in the last generation who grew up reading exclusively on paper.

 

[Cyrus]

Don't worry you can overcome this problem. The trick is to read a lot more stuff online. I mean a few HOURS. Try to read at least 2 hours a day online straight with no pauses. (That includes using the bathroom). Also, avoid excessive blinking, it makes your eyes tired much faster.

 

[humanino]

But for sitting and reading, I still prefer paper. I'm in the last generation who grew up reading exclusively on paper.

If you have a recent Acrobat reader, you should check the ability it has to read out loud. I often use when I'm doing something else.

 

[Defennder]

Does the screen refresh rate make reading easier for your eyes for LCDs?

 

[lisab]

If you have a recent Acrobat reader, you should check the ability it has to read out loud. I often use when I'm doing something else.

Does it read out loud in French?

 

[humanino]

Does it read out loud in French?

It reads french with the most awful american accent.

 

[lisab]

It reads french with the most awful american accent.

Haha - oh, of course !

 

[Cyrus]

Does the screen refresh rate make reading easier for your eyes for LCDs?

As far as I know, LCD's don't 'refresh'. They only change individual pixels. I can't look at a CRT monitor for 1/10th the time of an LCD. But the only people I've seen using old CRTS are students in the office, and I have no idea why in the hell there using the CRT. I just use my laptop as my desk computer and it folds away when I am done. Hence I get to use all of my desk area, and they lose a huge chunk of their space to the monitor and the tower, plus the rats nest of wires below.

 

[rootX]

If you have a recent Acrobat reader, you should check the ability it has to read out loud. I often use when I'm doing something else.

it's too slow ..

most people I know, prefer paper over e-book,
and maybe I need glasses to look @ the screen but I can read paper books without my glasses which is comfortable

 

[Defennder]

There is a "screen refresh rate" for my hardware under my Vista control panel display settings even though I'm using LCD. What does that refer to?

 

[humanino]

most people I know, prefer paper over e-book

Sure, I do too !

 

[Cyrus]

There is a "screen refresh rate" for my hardware under my Vista control panel display settings even though I'm using LCD. What does that refer to?

I have no idea. Maybe its there incase you live in Pakistan and still have CRT with your VISTA and dial up.

 

[Saladsamurai]

I have no idea. Maybe its there incase you live in Pakistan and still have CRT with your VISTA and dial up.

Vista......in Pakistan... You kill me.

 

[slider142]

Try using https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI73MA/?tag=pfamazon01-20. It uses electronic paper, so its reflective like regular paper text instead of emissive like LCDs.

 

[Moonbear]

There is one very convenient thing with ebook, it's the search function, especially for technical books used as a reference.

Hmm...I always thought the index was a sufficient search function in a textbook.

It reads french with the most awful american accent.

Hmm, it always seems to read English text with the most awful French accent.

 

[Moonbear]

Try using https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI73MA/?tag=pfamazon01-20. It uses electronic paper, so its reflective like regular paper text instead of emissive like LCDs.

That's been looking tempting to me. A few things are holding me back on it though. The first is that I'm not yet convinced the books I'd want to read are available for it in sufficient quantity to sink that much money into it yet, but that should just be a matter of time. The second is that while I wouldn't use it for textbooks, I'd use it for pleasure reading. I'm not sure yet how it does in very bright light, like if I were to sit outside in the sun to read (and then I'd worry about water damage if reading poolside). The place where it would come in most handy for me would be while traveling, instead of lugging along a bunch of books that I might or might not read (Murphy's law...if I lug along 3 books, I don't have time to even finish one, if I only bring one, I'm done with it the first day and still looking for more to read). The concern is that being an electronic device, I wouldn't be able to use it to read on the plane during that time when the only thing I can do is read paper books while all electronic devices have to be kept off.

So, so far, I prefer reading from paper, but not sure if that will slowly change as electronic devices take into account more and more of the current limitations, at least for pleasure reading. It will never suffice for me for using textbooks and technical reading, because the way I work through those doesn't lend itself well to the one page from one book at a time approach of an electronic reader. I need to be surrounded by books all open to different pages, and sometimes with my fingers in between several pages that I'm flipping back and forth on.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I have an idea for an e-book. Although I am not aware of any book has been written with this design criterion in mind, it could easily be done using tex and a tex to pdf converter. The idea is that for every cross reference in the book, there is a hyperlink. For instance, if on page 50, there is a reference to equation (3.24) which just happens to be on page 34, then you could click on the reference and it would take you to that page with that equation as close to the center of the viewing area as possible. Instead of having an index at the back of the book, the indexed words would be hyperlinked to their definitions or other appropriate locations. Any other hyperlinking that makes sense would also be implemented.

Amazon's Kindle looks pretty good, especially because of the electronic paper screen. It displays PDF, but they claim that it does not fully implement all PDF features. But I don't think it implements clicking. What I really would like to see is a tablet PC version of Kindle so that I could hand write annotations to the book. That kind of e-book reader, displaying a hyperlinked physics text would be a delight. I think that it would sell in the university community very well. Is Apple reading this forum?

In addition to the hand edited hyperlinking for equation references, there should be an automatic hyperlinking to a dictionary or encyclopedia so that if you highlight a word or name, you would get appropriate information. If you read book in a foreign language, you should be able to highlight words and get the meaning of it in your native language. For anyone who reads with a book in one hand and reference material in the other, there should be a solution using this platform.

 

[Moonbear]

I have an idea for an e-book. Although I am not aware of any book has been written with this design criterion in mind, it could easily be done using tex and a tex to pdf converter. The idea is that for every cross reference in the book, there is a hyperlink. For instance, if on page 50, there is a reference to equation (3.24) which just happens to be on page 34, then you could click on the reference and it would take you to that page with that equation as close to the center of the viewing area as possible. Instead of having an index at the back of the book, the indexed words would be hyperlinked to their definitions or other appropriate locations. Any other hyperlinking that makes sense would also be implemented.

I assumed that would already be in place in an electronic textbook. Maybe I've assumed incorrectly.

What I would really like is the ability to have non-consecutive pages open side-by-side. For example, if that figure on p. 34 had associated text that I wanted to look at while still comparing with what's on p. 50, I'd like to be able to open them side-by-side. But, that wouldn't be possible in a small reader device due to screen size. It could be done with electronic books on a computer monitor though...or I think it should be possible. That would start to better approximate the way I use textbooks, so would become more useful for me.

Of course, I also have tons of tabs and bookmarks and such on my books to identify pages for specific lectures. And, yes the ability to jot notes by hand would be nice, not just being tied to a keyboard, which isn't really the way I like to write notes.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I assumed that would already be in place in an electronic textbook. Maybe I've assumed incorrectly.

As I said, I am not aware of any such book. However the idea is a natural one and so they may exist. Here are a couple that do not work that way:
http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~mark/qft.html"
http://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~siegel/plan.html"

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

What I would really like is the ability to have non-consecutive pages open side-by-side. For example, if that figure on p. 34 had associated text that I wanted to look at while still comparing with what's on p. 50, I'd like to be able to open them side-by-side. But, that wouldn't be possible in a small reader device due to screen size. It could be done with electronic books on a computer monitor though...or I think it should be possible. That would start to better approximate the way I use textbooks, so would become more useful for me.

On a computer monitor you can open two copies of the text to differing pages. In fact, hyperlinking could be set to work that way.

As for a portable book, having two screens would double the cost of the book, but it might be worth it. To save some cost, one screen could be passive and the other sensitive to a stylus like the DS game machine. There should be no hardwired top or bottom to the machine. That way, the static screen could be the one on the left or on the right depending on how you hold the book and the software would present the information oriented in the appropriate way for the person reading. I certainly would want such a product, but the added expense may defeat the project.

 

[WarPhalange]

Paper all the way. Bookmarking pages and flipping back and forth if I need to is much easier, and reading in general is easier on my eyes.

 

[DaveC426913]

I've been wondering about getting some sort of ebook. What is the likelihood that I'll find my favourite fiction titles in electronic format?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I've been wondering about getting some sort of ebook. What is the likelihood that I'll find my favourite fiction titles in electronic format?

If you google ebook, you will find a lot. I found one commercial site that claims to have 130,000 books. There are free e-book sites and there is Project Gutenberg. Not all books are available for all platforms. What platform did you have in mind?

 

[GeorginaS]

Tsu has a Kindle. Someone should go get her for her opinion on it.

 

[jtbell]

How many notebooks or e-book readers are waterproof? I do a lot of my reading while soaking in the bathtub.

 

[DaveC426913]

How many notebooks or e-book readers are waterproof? I do a lot of my reading while soaking in the bathtub.

Just throw it in a ziplock baggie...

 

[NeoDevin]

How many notebooks or e-book readers are waterproof? I do a lot of my reading while soaking in the bathtub.

How many paper books are waterproof?

 

[DaveC426913]

How many paper books are waterproof?

Paper books continue to function after getting wet (though the user experience tends to drop off substantially).

 

[vincentm]

How many paper books are waterproof?

LCD's and CRT's aren't either if this is what you're suggesting.

 

[DaveC426913]

LCD's and CRT's aren't either if this is what you're suggesting.

That's kinda the point - if you've been following.
Someone was suggesting books are better because electronic devices aren't waterproof. Neo simply points out that books aren't either, nullifying their supposed advantage.