From: Michael M. Butler (mmb@spies.com)
Date: Tue Feb 18 2003 - 15:03:20 MST
Brain dump on my experiences with speed reading and software for same.
I own the middle priced version of AceReader (AceReader Pro). As others have mentioned
it's rather firehose-like. One of the chief things missing from it is a customizable
delay at the end of a paragraph. I think that reduces comprenension for me; topic
changes tend to happen at the start of paragraphs, and in dialog, the speaker shifts,
of course; for both these reasons I like having a moment to "set" memory before
plunging in. AceReader lets you set 'tween-sentence delay, but doesn't treat paragraphs
specially. That's a bug, IMO.
I've mentioned that to the producer of the product but I don't think it's anywhere
high on his list. Another thing he'd never heard about was the relative readability
of serif versus sans-serif fonts. He seemed eager to hear more about that, though, so
I sent him some pointers.
Another thing I wish I had was an "actual page" tachistoscope layout, where a bright
box bumps down a representation of (say) an HTML whole page.
The AceReader guy has several patents on file. I have mixed feelings about that.
Lastly, screen resolutions still suck for reading. 72 dpi is hard on the eyes.
At about 200 dpi, we can hope for better reading. IBM shipped a few flat panels
with that kind of rez to some universities a couple of years ago, based on some
copper-matrx tech, but I haven't heard anything else about them since.
The main effect I observe (even when speeding through paper) seems to be a flattening
out of things like imagery. In one of the Mike Lorrey example passages, I get slate
and steel grey as words, not as images, when I read it fast. So it's not an approach
I'd choose for enjoyment, though I might still score high in "comprehension" testing.
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