Comments on: How do you like to read? http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/ Threepress creates software for publishers, educators and authors. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:57:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jodi Schneider http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-726 Jodi Schneider Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:20:12 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-726 @Jill Thanks for the pointer to LiveInk. I've asked for a demo of ClipRead 2.0 (which does support Mac, unlike ClipRead1.0). Looks intriguing! They also have an old online service, to get a sense of what they do: <a href="http://www.liveink.com/LiveInkToGoReadingOnline.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.liveink.com/LiveInkToGoReadingOnline.htm</a> @Liza Their <a href="http://www.liveink.com/research_1.php" rel="nofollow">research papers</a> might be of interest to you. They do "Visual-syntactic text formatting"--basically reformatting based on sentence structure, punctuation, etc. @Jill Thanks for the pointer to LiveInk. I’ve asked for a demo of ClipRead 2.0 (which does support Mac, unlike ClipRead1.0). Looks intriguing! They also have an old online service, to get a sense of what they do: http://www.liveink.com/LiveInkToGoReadingOnline.htm

@Liza Their research papers might be of interest to you. They do “Visual-syntactic text formatting”–basically reformatting based on sentence structure, punctuation, etc.

]]> By: Giles http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-723 Giles Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:13:30 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-723 I guess I'm an outlier, but starting out long sighted and entering middle age ... I like to be able to set large fonts. 11pt doesn't cut it. :( Haven't tried Bookworm yet (really want a local reader, not one which requires an Internet connection) but using Stanza and ereader.com's readers on a 15" MacBook Pro, Stanza is set to display two columns and use 14pt; eReader is set to use two columns and 20pt! (That may be left over from when my eyesight deteriorated suddenly and I could only see a screen for a couple or hours per day ... happily repaired with a new prescription.) Oh -- and I really dislike Stanza's high contrast default black-on-white, but haven't spent enough time to find a suitable background colour. My browser's default font is 16pt. My take away is that there are three variables that can't be eliminated and must be accounted for: the device, the person, and the situation (sunlight v. Starbucks queue v. reading in bed not disturbing a partner v. ...) Oh -- I also hate scrolling. I want to move by *pages* when I'm reading (at least for novels). And the more intuitive/invisble this is the better: having to find a mouse or keep a hand over a couple of keys ... blech. Gotta be a better way. (eReader's button press on a laptop trackpad works OK, plus it allows keystrokes ...) Cheers, Giles (also an emacs fan from way back, but I switched years ago to black-on-white rather than white-on-black or green-on-black as we had in the "good" old days) I guess I’m an outlier, but starting out long sighted and entering middle age … I like to be able to set large fonts. 11pt doesn’t cut it. :(

Haven’t tried Bookworm yet (really want a local reader, not one which requires an Internet connection) but using Stanza and ereader.com’s readers on a 15″ MacBook Pro, Stanza is set to display two columns and use 14pt; eReader is set to use two columns and 20pt! (That may be left over from when my eyesight deteriorated suddenly and I could only see a screen for a couple or hours per day … happily repaired with a new prescription.)

Oh — and I really dislike Stanza’s high contrast default black-on-white, but haven’t spent enough time to find a suitable background colour.

My browser’s default font is 16pt.

My take away is that there are three variables that can’t be eliminated and must be accounted for: the device, the person, and the situation (sunlight v. Starbucks queue v. reading in bed not disturbing a partner v. …)

Oh — I also hate scrolling. I want to move by *pages* when I’m reading (at least for novels). And the more intuitive/invisble this is the better: having to find a mouse or keep a hand over a couple of keys … blech. Gotta be a better way. (eReader’s button press on a laptop trackpad works OK, plus it allows keystrokes …)

Cheers,

Giles (also an emacs fan from way back, but I switched years ago to black-on-white rather than white-on-black or green-on-black as we had in the “good” old days)

]]> By: liza http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-721 liza Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:51:51 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-721 Actually, there's info on the <a href="http://www.lartmaker.nl/gallery/" rel="nofollow">original page</a> which I should have credited. Actually, there’s info on the original page which I should have credited.

]]> By: liza http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-720 liza Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:50:52 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-720 Kamen: No idea. I just grabbed the picture off the net. Kamen: No idea. I just grabbed the picture off the net.

]]> By: Kamen http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-719 Kamen Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:47:08 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-719 Btw, Liza, What's that battery-operated thingie next to the VT terminal? Btw, Liza,

What’s that battery-operated thingie next to the VT terminal?

]]> By: Kamen http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-718 Kamen Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:40:13 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-718 Liza: Yes, indeed, Gargoyle seems to pay special attention to typography in Interactive Fiction - but that only makes me think about typography, page design, and e-book readers. I'm a bit of a (La)TeX nerd, so I am still suspicious of the ability of CSS to handle complex typographical situations. But I want to believe. Sokolov: You're very right - with e-book readers, we need that state where the interface itself "disappears", i.e., becomes so intuitive that we don't even think about it. The button-ornamented interface of the Kindle 2 makes me itch. Apple achieved this with the iPod - but they did it through a radical reduction of features and design streamlining. I really don't want to be thinking about the "book" - I need to be inside the text. Liza:

Yes, indeed, Gargoyle seems to pay special attention to typography in Interactive Fiction – but that only makes me think about typography, page design, and e-book readers. I’m a bit of a (La)TeX nerd, so I am still suspicious of the ability of CSS to handle complex typographical situations. But I want to believe.

Sokolov:

You’re very right – with e-book readers, we need that state where the interface itself “disappears”, i.e., becomes so intuitive that we don’t even think about it. The button-ornamented interface of the Kindle 2 makes me itch. Apple achieved this with the iPod – but they did it through a radical reduction of features and design streamlining. I really don’t want to be thinking about the “book” – I need to be inside the text.

]]> By: sokolov http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-717 sokolov Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:29:02 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-717 public transportation, often standing up, one-handed, jostled by my neighbor: wildly variable lighting conditions. Sometimes walking down the street. Probably the main implication is I don't want to have to use two hands to turn the page, and I want it to be easy to find the place where I was when my attention got wrenched away by the bus that almost hit me. public transportation, often standing up, one-handed, jostled by my neighbor: wildly variable lighting conditions. Sometimes walking down the street. Probably the main implication is I don’t want to have to use two hands to turn the page, and I want it to be easy to find the place where I was when my attention got wrenched away by the bus that almost hit me.

]]> By: Jill Ellern http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-715 Jill Ellern Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:42:08 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-715 Many years ago, at an EBook conference I saw a demo of a piece of software from a company called liveInk (<a href="http://www.liveink.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.liveink.com</a>). They now have a piece of software that cuts up a line of text to make it easier to read. Very interesting. Many years ago, at an EBook conference I saw a demo of a piece of software from a company called liveInk (http://www.liveink.com). They now have a piece of software that cuts up a line of text to make it easier to read. Very interesting.

]]> By: liza http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-712 liza Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:28:05 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-712 Some of the modern interactive fiction clients, like Gargoyle, are really beautiful (and I see that someone even <a href="http://blog.adamrb.com/2007/06/interactive-fiction-with-gargoyle.html" rel="nofollow">ported it to the iLiad eink reader</a>!) but yeah, to me IF will always be about the cyan-on-blue <a href="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42684000/jpg/_42684673_c64screen.jpg" rel="nofollow">color scheme of the Commodore 64</a>. Some of the modern interactive fiction clients, like Gargoyle, are really beautiful (and I see that someone even ported it to the iLiad eink reader!) but yeah, to me IF will always be about the cyan-on-blue color scheme of the Commodore 64.

]]> By: Kamen http://blog.threepress.org/2009/06/12/how-do-you-like-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-711 Kamen Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:22:56 +0000 http://blog.threepress.org/?p=529#comment-711 You're definitely hitting the nail on the head here with the context-specific reading requirements. In my case, I distinguish "functional" reading (RSS, newsgroups, etc.) from "literary" reading. For the latter, unfortunately, I've grown a public transport dependency. I either commute, or I never read any "proper" books, at all. (So, yes, I'm still waiting for the Mother of All Portable E-book Readers). Then there's also academic research, but that's also somehow "functional", reading up on specific topics for research, not necessarily for pleasure. Everything else takes place in a browser, or, if so inclined, in an environment similar to your development set-up: inside Emacs. The last picture you show reminds me of a different kind of "reading", which I still enjoy a lot. We're talking Interactive Fiction here, which I still strongly associate with text-only monochrome CRT terminals (in my case, it was an orange one, not green). But that's another story. You’re definitely hitting the nail on the head here with the context-specific reading requirements. In my case, I distinguish “functional” reading (RSS, newsgroups, etc.) from “literary” reading. For the latter, unfortunately, I’ve grown a public transport dependency. I either commute, or I never read any “proper” books, at all. (So, yes, I’m still waiting for the Mother of All Portable E-book Readers). Then there’s also academic research, but that’s also somehow “functional”, reading up on specific topics for research, not necessarily for pleasure.

Everything else takes place in a browser, or, if so inclined, in an environment similar to your development set-up: inside Emacs.

The last picture you show reminds me of a different kind of “reading”, which I still enjoy a lot. We’re talking Interactive Fiction here, which I still strongly associate with text-only monochrome CRT terminals (in my case, it was an orange one, not green). But that’s another story.

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