tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post2631097918971126069..comments2023-07-16T04:38:04.407-05:00Comments on Spinuzzi: Reading in the FutureClay Spinuzzihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13356273383001825508noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post-50676277044231652002010-12-27T14:07:54.507-06:002010-12-27T14:07:54.507-06:00Todd - I hear you. I almost never read fiction any...Todd - I hear you. I almost never read fiction anymore, but I'm finding that popular nonfiction is more linear and therefore easier to read than academic work. Currently I'm having a go at reading Richard Wrangham's book _Catching Fire_ on the Kindle app for Android, and it's going well - especially after I pumped down the font size as small as it could go. (My corneas are still flexible - for now.)<br /><br />Tom - I worry that you're right and that I'm "wired" to read print. I like to think that I'm more flexible than that, but maybe not!<br /><br />And here's a general gripe. Although I love that I can easily highlight and make notes on Kindle books (much faster than copying interesting passages in marginal notes), I hate that I can't copy and paste to another window. If I could, it would make my book blogging so much faster. Maybe I can find a hack, although I'm sure Amazon wouldn't like it.Clay Spinuzzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13356273383001825508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post-44101019214255320712010-12-27T14:00:52.662-06:002010-12-27T14:00:52.662-06:00Hi Clay
Circa 1983, my nickname was Dr. DOS among ...Hi Clay<br />Circa 1983, my nickname was Dr. DOS among my friends with PC Jrs and IBM PC-XTs. I understood how to solve the problems they were having with floppy disks and DOS commands. I find the reading I do on screen works only if I'm seeking information. However, if I'm reading for meaning or reflecting on what I'm reading, there's something about reading on screen that does not work for me. I've downloaded PDF's of entire books I intended to read but it doesn't happen. Meanwhile, I've been reading two "ink on paper" books per week since I first started teaching college in 1991. I'm currently reading Nick Carr's The Shallows. He suggests that reading books is a tactile experience which makes it more immersive and easy to concentrate. He also suggests the cognitive load to process words on paper naturally generates more focus. <br /><br />I have always found my favorite computer games to be very immersive, starting with Sim City 1.0 and Tetris. From what I've learned about the cognitive science of habit formation, I suspect my brain has ben wired for reading ink on paper and playing games on screen because those experiences came first, came often, got grooved without competing heuristics and have not produced failures, setbacks or crises that could trash my established routines. The current teens and twenty-somethings might form cognitive habits for reflective, immersive reading on screen and lose concentration when trying to read printed pages. I'd argue that it's not the tools, it's the habits formed first, which determine "what works" for an individual.Tom Haskinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12658791778134826289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post-48265482495452677152010-12-27T11:26:28.312-06:002010-12-27T11:26:28.312-06:00So, I'm a little older than you. Started learn...So, I'm a little older than you. Started learning PCs on an Apple II at a public library in my senior undergrad year. Then a C64 with no disk drive for 6 months (type in programs from magazines; watch them run; turn off computer; lather; rinse; repeat.)<br />I get immersed in fiction; I usually finish a book in two sittings.<br />Non-fiction reading, I'm a skimmer. Check the TOC, go to what interests me, thumb the pages to very rapidly search for keywords or illustrations, stop when I see something.<br />I am a voracious micro-reader of non-fiction. Not books but online blogs and what used to be called ezines ( I think of Engadget, etc. as ezines) I click through to other articles that look interesting and do a lot of saving to Evernote for articles or bits of articles that I want to reference later.<br />I have tried to save PDFs to Evernote for later reading but I read on an iPod Touch and it's just too small.<br />I actually avoid paper non-fiction because of the time it takes to read and really comprehend. I have tried the one-chapter-a night, book-on-the--nightstand thing but it starts to seem like required reading at that point.<br />Yup, I'm ADD, love bright shiney information and long walks in museums reading information plaques. And, sometime (often enough) am afraid of being OCD about information. :-)<br />And it's 11:21 and I'm still blog reading. :-(Toddoneillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12723062849538955469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post-84330041455429583422010-12-25T11:50:46.284-06:002010-12-25T11:50:46.284-06:00Stella, thanks. I saw your comment come through my...Stella, thanks. I saw your comment come through my email, but Blogger marked it as spam - sorry! <br /><br />I talked recently with someone at the UT Coop who said something similar - ePubs are great for fiction, because you read linearly, but nonfiction, such as textbooks, doesn't work because people use different reading strategies. I'm finding that too. <br /><br />Funny you should bring up the paperless office. Have you read Sellen and Harper's <a href="http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2007/01/reading-myth-of-paperless-office.html" rel="nofollow">The Myth of the Paperless Office</a>? I was thinking of it when I was typing this post up. Hmm, I should see if there's reading comprehension studies on the Kindle...Clay Spinuzzihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13356273383001825508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33273315.post-48151391325555680602010-12-25T06:24:42.665-06:002010-12-25T06:24:42.665-06:00Sounds like we're around the same age. I was r...Sounds like we're around the same age. I was raised on paper, too. <br /><br />I read a lot also, but I suspect I divide my reading differently. Sounds like you concentrate on non-fiction. For me, it's about 40/60 (fiction/non-fiction). <br /><br />I bought a Kindle in September. I bought a leather holder for it (with a neato little reading light), so when you hold it in your hand, it has the same heft as a book. I love it for reading fiction, but it stinks for non-fiction. The best thing about it is, it stays open on a table when you’re reading it. So, if you read while snacking, it’s awesome.<br /><br />For me, non-fiction reading is different from fiction reading. When I read non-fiction, I'm not just consuming material. I'm relating it to other things I know and other ideas I have. I'm also summarizing and paraphrasing. There's no way I can do this without having, as you say, a larger field of vision. I need to see the writing as a whole thing, and I can't do that without holding it in my hand and flipping through it. I actively post-it and tape-flag a book as I'm reading it also. It helps when I'm ready to discuss the book in a class, and when I want to summarize it online. I like to summarize useful books and articles in annotations because I just remember them better when I do that. <br /><br />Last semester, I bought the Kindle version of one of my course books. It was a nightmare to digest, quote from, and use as a resource. I just couldn’t get the full view of the material. I don’t feel it’s a deficit, I think I’m just a kinesthetic learner and I need to physically categorize and use information in order to add it to my long-term usable memory. <br /><br />I spent ten years as a software engineer, and I have printed my fair share of code to read and edit in coffee shops. You've hit on something interesting when you mention that you need to see the *shape* of the code. Coding is all about patterns, and blocks of code form shapes on the page. Interesting. <br /><br />I use Adobe reader to annotate and save articles. I love the note feature—I can just put my personal thoughts about how the article relates to my whole knowledge scheme right in the article. The highlighting is good too—those are the only two features I need at this point.<br /><br />I need highly portable reading also, but I still print articles and write/markup the printed copy. I know it’s seems old fashioned, but I suspect it’s just the kinesthetic learner in me. As well, I think that whole “paperless office” thing was debunked (Lannon, 2010). At least, that’s what I like to tell myself. ☺<br /><br />References<br />Lannon, J. (2008). Technical Communication (11th ed.). New York: Longman.~Stellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15713815056562343314noreply@blogger.com