Despite all the advantages of digital sources of information, over the past few years there has been growing evidence that our brains prefer analog media.
According to research The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking. psychologists from Princeton University and the University of California at Los Angeles, it is much easier to remember something important. According to psychotherapist and journalism expert Maud Purcell, the reason for this may be that writing stimulates an area of the brain known as the reticular activating system, which filters and brings clarity to the main body of information we focus on.
It turned out that the absorption of information from paper contributes to its better retention in memory and increased productivity. Anne Mangen, professor at the Reading Center at the Norwegian University of Stavanger, conducted a study in which she gave participants the same 28-page detective story - some on paper, and some on an Amazon Kindle reader. After that, they were asked a series of questions about the text.
Those who read the story from paper gave more correct answers to questions related to time and chronology than those who read from the Kindle. And when the participants were asked to put the 14 events in the correct order, those who read the paper book scored the best.
Anna Mangen
Scientists have yet to fully analyze this study. But Mangen links the benefit of reading paper books to a deficit in metacognition. According to the professor, metacognition is how consciously we relate to information. “For example, how much time do you spend reading a text to understand a text well enough to solve a related problem,” says Mangen.
Participants in another study Metacognitive regulation of text learning: on screen versus on paper. it was believed that they comprehend information better when they read from the screens of electronic devices. Because of this, they swallowed the text much faster than those who read from paper, and believed that they would perform better in a quiz on the text. As a result, fans of the traditional format not only benefited in terms of understanding the text, but also better predicted their results.
No need to read everything from paper
With books, the situation is clear, but does the brain absorb information as well when reading newspapers, magazines, and other physical media? Not necessarily.
“Length really seems to be the main issue, and a number of other text parameters, such as structure and formatting, are closely related to it. Is the content presented in such a way that you are required to keep several events or parts of text in mind at the same time? Mangin continues. In other words, the complexity and density of information can influence the importance of the text source.
“It may be that for certain types of text or literary genres (e.g. overly engaging books) the source plays little role, while in the case of other genres (e.g. cognitively and emotionally complex novels) the source may matter. to understand and perceive the book,” explains Mangen. “But this has yet to be empirically tested.”
No need to stretch your hand to the print button when receiving the next letter, unless it is comparable in length to a novel. Reading short messages from the screen is unlikely to interfere with understanding and.
Print and digital information can coexist peacefully
Printed information is not always as good for understanding and remembering as digital information. It is useful to remember that all media and technologies have their own user interfaces. The user interface of paper, in some cases, can have a better effect on the memorization and assimilation of complex information than electronic devices.
But in other cases, such as when giving presentations with audiovisual materials, a device like a tablet will be more useful. There is no universal solution. It all depends on a number of factors related to the content, the reader, the purpose of reading or the situation.
Take your time when reading e-books
If you can't refuse e-books It doesn't mean that all is lost for you. You probably think you're absorbing information faster than you actually are, so .
The simple solution is to slow down and focus more on debriefing. This will help to perceive information as well as when reading from paper.
Good afternoon.
Who just did not predict the end of books with the beginning of the development of computer technology. However, progress is progress, but books both lived and live (and will live). It's just that everything has changed somewhat - electronic folios have come to replace paper folios.
And this, I must say, has its advantages: on the most ordinary computer or tablet (on Android), more than one thousand books can fit, each of which can be opened and read in a matter of seconds; there is no need to keep a large closet in the house to store them - everything fits on a PC disk; in in electronic format o Convenient to make bookmarks and reminders, etc.
The best e-book readers (*.fb2, *.txt, *.doc, *.pdf, *.djvu and more)
For Windows
Several useful and convenient "readers" that will help you immerse yourself in the process of absorbing another book while sitting at your computer.
Cool Reader
One of the most common programs for both Windows and Android (although in my opinion, for the latter, there are programs that are more convenient, but about them below).
Of the main features:
- supports formats: FB2, TXT, RTF, DOC, TCR, HTML, EPUB, CHM, PDB, MOBI (i.e. all the most common and in demand);
- adjusting the brightness of the background and fonts (a mega handy thing, you can make reading convenient for any screen and person!);
- auto-swiping (convenient, but not always: sometimes you read one page for 30 seconds, another for a minute);
- convenient bookmarks (this is very convenient);
- the ability to read books from archives (this is also very convenient, because many are distributed online in archives);
AL Reader
Another very interesting "reader". Among its main advantages: it is the ability to choose encodings (which means that when opening a book, “crack-zabras” and unreadable characters are practically excluded); support for both popular and rare formats: fb2, fb2.zip, fbz, txt, txt.zip, partial support for epub (without DRM), html, docx, odt, rtf, mobi, prc (PalmDoc), tcr.
In addition, it should be noted that this program can be used both when working with Windows and Android. I also want to note that this program has a rather fine adjustment of brightness, fonts, indents, and other “things” that will help adjust the display to an ideal state, regardless of the equipment used. I recommend it for an unambiguous acquaintance!
FBReader
Another well-known and popular "reader", I could not ignore it within the framework of this article. Perhaps its most important advantages are: free, support for all popular and not so popular formats (ePub, fb2, mobi, html, etc.), flexible ability to customize the display of books (fonts, brightness, indents), a large network library (you can always pick up something for your evening reading).
By the way, one cannot but say that the application works on all the most popular platforms: Windows, Android, Linux, Mac OS X, Blackberry, etc.
Adobe Reader
This program is probably known to almost all users who have ever worked with the PDF format. And in this mega-popular format, many magazines, books, texts, pictures, etc. are distributed.
The PDF format is specific, sometimes it cannot be opened on other readers, except for Adobe Reader. Therefore, I recommend having a similar program on your PC. It has already become a basic program for many users and its installation does not even raise questions ...
DjVuViwer
The DJVU format has become very popular lately, partially replacing the PDF format. This happens due to the fact that DJVU compresses the file more strongly, with the same quality. Books, magazines, etc. are also distributed in the DJVU format.
There are a lot of readers of this format, but among them there is one small and simple utility - DjVuViwer.
Why is it better than others:
- light and fast;
- allows you to scroll through all the pages at once (i.e. there is no need to turn them over, as in other programs of this kind);
- there is a convenient option for creating bookmarks (precisely convenient, and not just its presence ...);
- opening all DJVU files without exception (i.e. there is no such thing that the utility opened one file, and the second one could not ... And this, by the way, happens with some programs (like the universal programs presented above)).
For Android
eReader Prestigio
In my humble opinion, this is one of the best e-book readers for Android. I use it on my tablet all the time.
Judge for yourself:
- a huge number of formats are supported: FB2, ePub, PDF, DJVU, MOBI, PDF, HTML, DOC, RTF, TXT (including audio formats: MP3, AAC, M4B and Read Books Out Loud (TTS));
- completely in Russian;
- convenient search, bookmarks, brightness adjustment, etc.
Those. a program from the category - installed 1 time and forgot about it, you just use it without thinking! I recommend trying it, a screenshot from it below.
FullReader+
Another handy android app. I also often use it, opening one book in the first reader (see above), and the second in this one :).
Main advantages:
- support for a bunch of formats: fb2, epub, doc, rtf, txt, html, mobi, pdf, djvu, xps, cbz, docx, etc.;
- the ability to read aloud;
- convenient setting of the background color (for example, you can make the background like a real old book, some people like it);
- built-in file manager (it’s convenient to immediately search for what you need);
- a convenient "memory" of recently opened books (and reading the current one).
Indeed, over the past five years, the situation in the book, library and information markets of our country has changed significantly. And the main phenomenon that not only shook the usual foundations of working with the reader, but also turned the attitude towards the book itself, was the “electronic revolution”. For five years in the country (or rather, in the world), not only was born, but also acquired a real shape of the e-book market and the market of electronic reading devices. And it is no longer possible to ignore this when developing new methods of promoting reading. However, in order to correctly formulate approaches to the development of such methods, first of all, it was necessary to evaluate the processes taking place in the field of “electronic reading”, which has not been studied so far, to understand the reader of electronic books.
In this regard, in September 2011, the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, together with the Yuri Levada Analytical Center, held a large-scale sociological research dedicated to e-reading in Russia and genre preferences of e-book readers. The study was conducted on the basis of 12 largest cities Russian Federation- Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk. Residents aged 18 and older who read books - fiction or special literature were interviewed. More than 1000 questionnaires were included in the final processing.
The study of trends associated with the transition from traditional "paper" reading to electronic, was started with the question "Do you know about the existence of electronic books?" (here we meant not electronic book files, but electronic reading devices). The following answers were received: 84% of the respondents said "yes" and only 16% of the respondents had not yet heard of the existence of e-books (see Fig. 1).
Not much time has passed since the appearance of electronic reading devices on the Russian market, but the awareness of their existence among residents of Russian cities is already quite high. However, when answering the next question that worried the researchers, “In what form do you read books?”, The distribution of answers was different. Only 3% of the surveyed residents of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other large cities answered that they read exclusively electronic books, without resorting to paper ones. At the same time, 72% of respondents answered that they still read only ordinary, paper, books. And, finally, 25% of the respondents said that they read both regular books and e-books (see Fig. 2).
The latter is especially important for us. Perhaps, it is this moment that “fixes” the smooth transition from “paper” reading to “electronic” reading best of all, and it is important to emphasize here that at the current “historical period of time”, the majority of e-book readers do not yet refuse to read paper books. We do not yet know how long this state of "smooth transition" will be observed and what its scale will be, therefore, in order to identify trends in this area, it is necessary to monitor the situation in dynamics, which the researchers intend to do in the future.
Of course, it was interesting for our analysis to identify the motives that prompted current e-book readers to move from reading from a sheet to reading on a screen. It should be noted that the developers of the study had certain hypotheses that were formed either due to opinions (and sometimes stereotypes) prevailing in the industry environment, or empirical observations. So, to the question “Why did you decide to start reading e-books?” as a prevailing answer, the researchers expected to hear, in one form or another, the expressed stereotype that "an electronic device contains a large number of books - an entire library."
However, which was rather unexpected, this answer turned out to be not only not the first, but not even the second or third. Only 21% of respondents said that it was the large capacity of electronic devices that became the main factor for them that contributed to the transition from "paper" to "digit". The vast majority of respondents - 58% answered that such a factor was for them the fact that the right book in electronic format can be obtained faster (see Fig. 3).
By itself, the speed of getting the right book can be interpreted in different ways (for example, that you don’t have to go to the store to get it), but it is noteworthy that the second most popular answer (albeit by a fairly large margin) was the answer “I don’t want to spend money.” So it's enough large group users who turn to reading e-books, obviously believe that an e-book, unlike a paper one, is a free product, and the transition from paper to electronic reading will bring them savings. Moreover, the relationship between the first and second most popular responses to question asked once again indicates to us that a free - pirated - book is still quite easy to find on the Web, and the reader can get it on his device quite quickly. Moreover, about a third of the respondents answered that in electronic form they can find something that is not on sale. And this is already necessary to take note of the publishers and booksellers. Questions of greater ease of ownership and use of electronic reading devices compared to paper books, as noted, are fading into the background, and they are united by the answer options “do not accumulate at home”, “accommodates a large number of texts” and “it is more convenient to read in transport”. On average, they are indicated by 24–25% of users.
Many are accustomed to thinking that when a person switches from "paper" reading to "electronic", he begins to read less. In the industry environment, opinions have been expressed more than once that in “ electronic reading First of all, those who cannot “master” an ordinary, paper book pass; that the perception of information on the screen is different from its perception from paper, and a person using electronic devices is more comfortable with a different form of information consumption - in the form of "clips", "pictures". In other words, for many of us, an “electronic” reader is like a “fake” reader, an “under-” or “semi-” reader.
However, the question of whether they began to read more or less often after being introduced to electronic devices, and how the transition from “paper” to “digit” influenced their perception of the text, we decided to ask the “electronic readers” themselves. The answer exceeded all our expectations. Only 3% of e-book readers said they read less e-books (see Figure 4). 48% answered that they read about as much electronically as they read on paper, and 42% said that they began to read even more electronically.
The next question the researchers were interested in was where people most often read e-books. In this issue, we also had our own hypothesis: of course, in transport. This assumption was not accidental: each of us, when driving to or from work in public transport, I have seen people reading e-books on various devices more than once.
However, it turned out that urban transport is not the most “favorite” place for reading e-books. As it turned out during the study, most often e-books are read at home (see Fig. 5). And this fact, in our opinion, is very positive. He says that e-reading is, like traditional reading, still at home. That is, with the transition from “paper” reading to “electronic” reading, the tradition of home reading does not disappear.
In part, the prevalence of “home” e-reading “explains” the answers to another question that we asked respondents: “How do you read e-books?” Thus, 46% of e-book readers answer that they read them from the screen of a regular computer. 45% say that they use one or another special portable device or gadget for reading, and 9% answered that they print electronic texts on paper and read in their usual form (see Fig. 6).
From total weight e-book readers, we were most interested in those who use not only a personal computer for reading. We asked them what devices they use to read electronic texts? More than half of the respondents (56%) indicated that this is an e-book, or reader, which is usually associated with an “electronic book” when we talk about a “book” as a device (see Figure 7). Next on the response scale were a communicator/smartphone (25%), mobile phone(22%), and only 13% of respondents noted that they use iPod or iPad to read e-books. Here it is important to note the difference between the Russian and American markets of electronic reading devices: if in our country the vast majority of their users prefer reading from readers, then abroad they mostly read from iPods and iPads.
Speaking about the electronic gadgets that the respondents use for reading, we could not help but ask them what they see as their advantages and disadvantages. When asking about the merits of electronic devices, we, as in the case of identifying factors contributing to the transition from "paper" to "digit", assumed that the most important of them would be that an electronic device can accommodate a large number of electronic books. However, even here this answer did not become the most popular - it was noted by 37% of respondents. Half of the respondents see the main advantage of electronic reading devices as the fact that they can be downloaded and erased unnecessary (see Fig. 8). That is, half of the users of electronic gadgets use them “like” paper libraries - “read and threw away (erased)”. The second most popular answer (42% of respondents), which is typical for Russian market, turned out to be the answer, according to which reading e-books is much cheaper than buying paper ones. This answer can be interpreted in different ways: an e-book today is indeed significantly cheaper than a paper one, but this same answer does not deny that by the words “much cheaper” some users mean pirated downloads of books. But we will talk about this below.
38% of e-book readers surveyed prefer e-books because e-books don't take up space at home. At the same time, 8% believe that paper books as a product are outdated.
As noted above, we asked what, according to users of electronic gadgets, these devices have disadvantages. And the first, quite expected, answer was "bad for the eyes." Despite the fact that manufacturers of electronic reading devices improve them every year, and every year more and more new models appear on the market, this answer option is chosen as the main drawback by 34% of respondents (see Fig. 9).
A rather large place in the list of shortcomings is occupied by the consumer properties of electronic devices. Such factors as fast battery discharge are noted as negative by 31% of gadget users, the fact that an e-book “can only be read indoors” by 27%, and the fact that in order to “access” the text an electronic device must be turned on (and then - turn off) - 18%.
However, a fairly large part of users expect electronic devices to display a number of properties of a paper book in them and experience the inconvenience associated with their absence. Thus, 21% of users of electronic gadgets are dissatisfied with the lack of the ability to make notes in the margins; the same number note the lack of design of the book; 13% of readers complain about the same type of font; 10% - for a weak contrast between the text and the "page", and, finally, 6% note that the formats of paper books are much more diverse.
As already noted, in recent years, in the library and pedagogical environment, there is an opinion that when reading text from the screen, what is read is assimilated worse. However, this thesis was refuted by e-book readers: only 6% of them claim that what they read from the screen is assimilated worse than what they read from “paper”.
From the consumer properties of electronic devices, we decided to move on to the content aspects of electronic reading. And the first question we asked in this block was the question “What books do you download most often?” The answers were distributed fairly proportionally. Half of the respondents download books for leisure reading, a quarter - for study, and the same number - "for both" (see Fig. 10).
At the same time, the answers to the question about how e-book readers download online literature were quite eloquent (see Fig. 11). Nearly 80% of e-book readers admitted that they only download books for free. 18% of readers noted that they turn to the paid version of books only in the absence of a free one, and as a rule, less than 0.5% of readers honestly pay for downloaded works. Comments are superfluous.
The study of the content aspects of e-reading could not but include the study of genre preferences of e-book readers. We analyzed reader preferences both in the field of fiction and in the field of non-fiction. fiction.
Among the most “readable” genres of fiction in electronic form, users singled out fantasy in the first place, followed by modern foreign prose, foreign detective stories and science fiction (see Fig. 12).
Looking at this picture, we can conclude that the most “readable” genres of fiction depend, rather, not on the medium of these texts (paper or electronic), but on the age of the reader, since the designated genres largely reflect the reading circle of the young reader. This is also evidenced by the circle of the most "unreadable" genres in electronic form - modern domestic and translated poetry, prose of the Soviet years, Russian pre-revolutionary classics, historical novels and books about the Great Patriotic war(see fig. 13). Young people rarely read such books even on paper.
Starting to study reader preferences in the field of electronic non-fiction and imagining a young, modern, active person, we expected to hear the option “business literature” among the first answers. However, in reality, the picture turned out to be different. Only 13% of respondents noted that they read business-related books from electronic media. The most widely read electronic books were specialized books (29%), educational literature (24%) and encyclopedias (23%) (see Fig. 14).
Among the most "unreadable" types of non-fiction were dream books, books on magic and divination, religion and customs, as well as books on nature and animals, memoirs and biographies (see Fig. 15). Obviously, readers of such literature have not yet mastered electronic media, and publishers prefer to sell it in paper form.
It was quite interesting in the course of the study to analyze the models of reading and purchasing behavior of consumers of paper and electronic books. Since, as we saw above, the majority of e-book readers do not yet give up reading paper books, it was interesting to compare the motives for buying books with “clean wallets” and readers who read both paper and e-books.
To the question “Why do you most often buy books?” readers of paper books more often give "traditional" answers, corresponding to the patterns of book consumption characteristic of the late 1970s and early 1980s: "for the home library" (about 50%), "read and give away" (45%). At the same time, readers who combine electronic and paper reading are more practical in choosing books and more often than “wallets” buy them “for study” (about 30%), “for work” (22%), i.e. for educational and business purposes (see Fig. 16).
Similar results gave answers to another question - "Why do you read books in the first place?" The motivation of “paper” readers was quite traditional: their answers are more common in the groups “unwind, have fun”, “get away from everyday worries”, “pass the time, dispel boredom”, “get emotions, experiences” (see Fig. 17). On the contrary, a practical approach to reading prevails among readers who combine “paper” and “electronic” reading: “to learn something interesting, broaden their horizons”, “gain new experience”, “for work”, “for study”. In other words, "paper" reading today is more recreational, and electronic - cognitive and business.
Continuing the topic of purchasing behavior, we asked readers of paper books and readers who combine "paper" and "electronic" reading, where they usually buy books.
The results turned out to be quite interesting. It turned out that readers who combine "paper" and "electronic" reading are more likely to visit "classic" bookstores compared to those who read only paper books (80% vs. 71%), and shop online more often (15% versus 4%) (see Fig. 18). Readers of paper books only, more often than readers of paper and electronic books, buy books in supermarkets, at bookstores, in kiosks, on trays, i.e. at points of non-stationary and non-specialized retail.
Answers to the question "Approximately how many books have you bought in the last 6 months?" were even more interesting. If in the groups “None”, “1-2 books” and “3-5 books”, “paper” readers are in the lead, then in the groups “6-10 books”, “11-15 books” the majority are readers who combine “ paper" and "electronic" reading (see Fig. 19). That is, e-book readers not only visit bookstores more often, but also buy traditional books more often.
But not only are they more active buyers, they are also more active readers. When we asked, “Approximately how many books do you read per month?” (without dividing into fiction and non-fiction), readers of paper books more often answered that only one book or found it difficult to answer, and readers of paper and electronic books more often said “2-3 books”, “4-5 books” and even “more than 5 books” (see Fig. 20).
If the answers to questions about buying and reading books by "paper" and "electronic" readers are still somehow explainable, then the answers to the question "Are you registered in any library?" were completely unexpected for us. It turned out that among the readers who combine "paper" and "electronic" reading, there are more of those who are registered in the library (both in one and in several), and among those who read only paper books, there are more often those who have never been to the library at all. recorded in the library, and those who were previously recorded, but no longer use it (see Fig. 21). That is, readers of paper and electronic books turned out to be more active than readers of only paper books, visitors to traditional libraries.
Thus, the study, in fact, destroys the hitherto prevailing opinion about e-book readers as “inferior” readers. Indeed, e-book readers compared to those who only read hard copy turned out to be more active readers, more active buyers, and more active library visitors.
Apparently, this is primarily due to the active phase of "out-of-family socialization" - studying, starting work, gaining professional qualifications. In addition, it is the young age that is traditionally the phase of the most intensive “reading” of literature. In addition, we decided to compare how many books were in the families (in the house) where today's readers of printed and electronic books grew up. It turned out that today's e-book readers had more books in their families than today's paper readers - the former report having more complete home libraries than the latter (see Figure 22). Surrounded by books since childhood, they probably inherited the habit of reading from their parents, and the electronic gadgets that have appeared in recent years simply gave them the opportunity to read ("swallow") more books, get (download) them faster, and manage their libraries more efficiently.
Completing the study of "electronic" reading in Russia, we tried to make a portrait of a modern e-book reader. Obviously, such data will be of interest to publishers and distributors of e-books, as well as manufacturers of devices for reading them. It turned out that readers who combine regular and electronic reading are younger than those who read only “from sight”: the average age of the former is about 30 years old, while those who prefer regular books are 44 years old; they are more educated: more than half (53%) have already received or are receiving higher education(Among the supporters of a paper book, the proportion of highly educated is 42%). The e-book reader is usually different increased level consumer opportunities: 49% can easily purchase durable goods, 60% have a car in the family, 70% have a desktop computer, 60% have a laptop.
We have presented the results of what is actually the first large-scale study characterizing e-reading in Russia. Like any undertaking, it is apparently not without some shortcomings, and some issues require clarification, concretization. It is obvious that the conducted research captures the state of affairs at a certain point in time, therefore, of course, we intend to track the identified trends in dynamics. And of course, those who are directly involved in the development of strategies for promoting reading in today's difficult time for the publishing industry should follow this dynamic.
A. Voropaev, Head of the Department of Book Exhibitions and Promotion of Reading, Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications, Candidate of Philology
In the summer of 2001, when I started making this site, there was nothing but interest and a little experience in reading books with several readers. Although .. if the word interest is replaced by the fact that I wildly liked all this, everything becomes clear.
I did it about programs for reading on personal computers with operating system WIndows (Wintel, some say). Back then, I only glanced admiringly at the reading devices and collected their rare reviews and descriptions on my website. In general, there were some differences
COMPUTER I will call even an almost culturological term. This is PC: Wintel (IBM PC) and Apple and Linux, these are laptops and tablet PCs on these platforms, these are pocket computers (Pocket PC) or Personal electronic assistants (PDA - personal digital assistant),
However, it shows how my idea of a book-text developed on a computer. So I decide
So, the beginning, 2001.
Here I want to briefly describe what I mean by e-books and electronic texts and how the capabilities of a computer relate to our ordinary way of life. Perhaps, for starters, it is worth taking a look at my terminology / classification of reading programs (as always, you should agree on terms first).
About how to make reading on the computer a pleasure or save time for the pleasures of others.
Do you read books on the computer. If you did not come to this page by chance, and even a regular Internet user, then I can say with confidence that yes.
Reading books on a computer is cheap, it was always clear. Cheap, it's clear why: on a CD - a whole library, on the Internet and even more. Yes, and convenience can be traced, it is not necessary (if you have a certain software or shell for the library) - look for any book. A new or desired book can be found almost instantly via the Internet. However, it's still inconvenient. Why. The habit of a paper book and the rejection of reading on a computer. Bad monitors or bad settings. In general, if you are not an inveterate computer scientist, reading is not a thrill for you. Unusual, uncomfortable, hence no pleasure, even, perhaps, the book is perceived differently.
Therefore, in the best traditions of the Internet, there will be advertising at the beginning.
Want to drink coffee and enjoy your favorite book. No need to turn pages, dirty them with greasy fingers. Put autoscrolling in the reader or run a quick reader and enjoy doubly.
Drinking coffee while looking at the flickering or slowly floating immortal lines (what a pleasure!) Is not heavenly pleasure.
And if you turn the monitor and lie down on a soft pillow and look only at conveniently flashing words?
In general, something like that.
And now it's okay about the convenience of reading e-books.
It all started in the summer of 2000, when I looked in Computerra for a link to the Vortex program. Very interested. The program issued a word in a certain period of time, thereby eliminating the need to turn pages and large letters on a dark background. Vision is clearly not affected. Another advantage is that you can move almost any distance from the computer - 72 font is clearly visible after ten meters - that is, move the chair a little further away (the distance to the monitor changes, and the eyes rest), lie down on the bed, hang on the horizontal bar and unbend sunken shoulders extended towards the keyboard (just kidding).
So I read in different ways, with the highest possible speed, when you have to strain so as not to be distracted, and, relaxing, when you want to put more speed in an interesting place. To be honest, I didn't like it very much. Again, it's about enjoyment. You can’t read a technical textbook on a word and at a sufficiently high speed, you read fiction books. And something is not right. So I read six books (1700 pages) and paused there.
Two months passed, and I began to remember the books I read, to collect my impressions together. And he did not find a difference between the impression of "paper books" and "quickly read". Maybe the latter are a little blurry, but the impression and mood are the same. Therefore, for now, I can say one thing - if you read e-books, do it with speed readers. It saves time, health and it's cool, after all. The people come and do not have time to follow the flashing words, and you know you read and laugh.
In general, fellow dinosaurs (those who have not yet forgotten how to read books), get used to reading on a computer, improve perception and reaction.
Therefore, here are my conclusions about what influences the choice between an electronic and paper book.
1. Text display (paper sheet with varying degrees of paper quality, with clear text, illustrations and monitor quality, selected font, color, etc., sheet, scroll, word display)
2. Convenience of reading (mobility of the book, the ability to read at different times, at different places, lying down, etc.)
3. Habit
a) to the book as such, paper and material
b) to reading, distance from the page
VC good books which are quite difficult to find online.
Ultimately, the habit of reading or not reading books on a computer is determined by only one condition: what is more for you a computer - a working tool or a means for creativity. In the sense of a working tool, I personally will not sit down at the computer once again. So, when you sit behind him all day, no matter how you optimize your eyes (the picture on the monitor, working time) start to hurt. If I had done something else, it might have been different.
A computer is a good thing, because it reflects the totality of human culture and knowledge ... But it still bothers me quite strongly.
Well, if we talk about reading devices in general - read this one for now.
Continuing in today's time. I have not only matured, so now I will put the question of electronic or computer reading like this: Who benefits from publishing e-books (both working with authors and inventing e-book formats, who benefits from making reading devices, who benefits from reading books and /or collect a library of e-books.
Who just did not predict the end of books with the beginning of the development of computer technology. However, progress is progress, but books both lived and live (and will live). It's just that everything has changed somewhat - electronic folios have come to replace paper folios.
And this, I must say, has its advantages: on the most ordinary computer or tablet (on Android), more than one thousand books can fit, each of which can be opened and read in a matter of seconds; there is no need to keep a large closet in the house to store them - everything fits on a PC disk; in electronic video, it is convenient to make bookmarks and reminders, etc.
The best e-book readers (*.fb2, *.txt, *.doc, *.pdf, *.djvu and more)
For Windows
Several useful and convenient "readers" that will help you immerse yourself in the process of absorbing another book while sitting at your computer.
Cool Reader
One of the most common programs for both Windows and Android (although in my opinion, for the latter, there are programs that are more convenient, but about them below).
Of the main features:
- supports formats: FB2, TXT, RTF, DOC, TCR, HTML, EPUB, CHM, PDB, MOBI (i.e. all the most common and in demand);
- adjusting the brightness of the background and fonts (a mega handy thing, you can make reading convenient for any screen and person!);
- auto-swiping (convenient, but not always: sometimes you read one page for 30 seconds, another for a minute);
- convenient bookmarks (this is very convenient);
- the ability to read books from archives (this is also very convenient, because many are distributed online in archives);
AL Reader
Another very interesting "reader". Among its main advantages: it is the ability to choose encodings (which means that when opening a book, “crack-zabras” and unreadable characters are practically excluded); support for both popular and rare formats: fb2, fb2.zip, fbz, txt, txt.zip, partial support for epub (without DRM), html, docx, odt, rtf, mobi, prc (PalmDoc), tcr.
In addition, it should be noted that this program can be used both when working with Windows and Android. I also want to note that this program has a rather fine adjustment of brightness, fonts, indents, and other “things” that will help adjust the display to an ideal state, regardless of the equipment used. I recommend it for an unambiguous acquaintance!
FBReader In my humble opinion, this is one of the best e-book readers for Android. I use it on my tablet all the time.
Judge for yourself:
- a huge number of formats are supported: FB2, ePub, PDF, DJVU, MOBI, PDF, HTML, DOC, RTF, TXT (including audio formats: MP3, AAC, M4B and Read Books Out Loud (TTS));
- completely in Russian;
- convenient search, bookmarks, brightness adjustment, etc.
Those. a program from the category - installed 1 time and forgot about it, you just use it without thinking! I recommend trying it, a screenshot from it below.
FullReader+
Another handy android app. I also often use it, opening one book in the first reader (see above), and the second in this one :).
Main advantages:
- support for a bunch of formats: fb2, epub, doc, rtf, txt, html, mobi, pdf, djvu, xps, cbz, docx, etc.;
- the ability to read aloud;
- convenient setting of the background color (for example, you can make the background like a real old book, some people like it);
- built-in file manager (it’s convenient to immediately search for what you need);
- a convenient "memory" of recently opened books (and reading the current one).
Book cataloging
For those who have a lot of books, it is quite difficult to do without some kind of cataloguer. Keeping in mind hundreds of authors, publishers, what has been read and what has not yet been read, to whom something has been given is a rather difficult task. And in this regard, I would like to highlight one utility - All My Books.
All My Books
A simple and convenient cataloger. Moreover, one important point: you can catalog both paper books (which are on your shelf in your closet) and electronic ones (including audio books that have become popular recently).
The main advantages of the utility:
- quick addition of books, it is enough to know one thing: the author, title, publisher, etc.;
- completely in Russian;
- supported by popular Windows OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10;
- there is no manual "red tape" - the program loads all the data in auto-mode (including: price, cover, publisher data, year of issue, authors, etc.).
Everything is quite simple and fast. We press the "Insert" button (or through the "Book / Add book" menu), then we enter something that we remember (in my example, just "Urfin Juice") and press the search button.
We will see a table with the options found (with covers!): from them you will have to choose exactly the one you were looking for. The one I was looking for you can see in the screenshot below. In total, everything about everything (adding a whole book) took about 15-20 seconds!
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