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Yesterday, I read an interesting article by SymbianOne's Richard Bloor: "Mobipocket: Beyond The Printed Page". Particularly, I liked this section (bold added):
The question "can you really read something like a book effectively on a smartphone screen, isn't it too small?" would seem to one Fabien Hertschuh of Mobipocket is no stranger to. "A smartphone screen has very similar dimensions to a column of newspaper text," says Fabien. "People read newspapers everyday without worrying that the columns are too narrow or the type too small. At first users may find reading eBooks on their smartphone a little odd, but we have found that they soon get used to it. They no longer notice the device, they just read. The huge improvements we have seen in screen quality over the last few year has helped too, making text crisp and more legible."
So far, I had been one of these sceptics. I love real books - the touch, feel, and smell of them - and I couldn't understand why anybody would want to read books from a tiny device screen. But after reading these words, I decided to give it a try. Off I went to Project Gutenberg, the oldest producer of free ebooks on the Internet, and downloaded the plain text version of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde.
First, I simply tried what would happen if I just launch the ebook from FExplorer. My Nokia 6680 opened the book with the built-in Notes application. Not good. Off I went to My-Symbian and downloaded ReadM, a freeware ebook reader application.
As my surprise, it kind of worked! Yes, I should have tried it with a newer device with better display. And yes, I should have downloaded the ebook in html format. But still, it wasn't too bad. I can imagine myself reading something while commuting or while waiting for someone (if I don't have a real book with me, of course).
As you know, the latest Nokia devices have much better displays than my dear old Nokia 6680, my main S60 device. Thinking about that, I really need to upgrade my device soon...
Comments
I'm an avid reader too, and an avid gadget fan. You'd think I'd love to read my books on my S60 device, but I have yet to even try it.
Books are just so cheap nowadays, a sci-fi paperback costs me something like $10/10e. Might as well buy the book and have "touch, feel, and smell of them" that I too enjoy.
But that "People read newspapers everyday without worrying that the columns are too narrow or the type too small." is an excellent point that may get me to try some ebooks. However, wouldn't the constant clicking of the scroll down button get annoying? Dunno until I try!
Posted by: Phil | February 22, 2006 02:51 PMAt least with ReadM, the constant scroll-down clicking was quite annoying, although not totally unbearable. I wonder if there are ebook reader applications that would scoll down smoothly and automatically on a pre-set speed...
Posted by: Tommi Vilkamo | February 22, 2006 03:13 PMWe've a mobile application in Spain that allow users read the daily newspaper. Without any reader, the user can download a Microedition of its favorite newspaper, magazine or Tv Show. The product is called Microeditions (www.microeditions.com) and we've signed with more than 30 Content Providers in Spain, Mexio and other countries.
Posted by: Alberto Benbunan Garzón | February 22, 2006 04:31 PM"People read newspapers everyday without worrying that the columns are too narrow or the type too small."
Newspaper columns may be narrow, type may be small, but the column length is long, you can easily glance up and down and see what's coming. Glancing is very important. Reading newspapers, you don't feel constrained by peering through a tiny window, like with phones.
Posted by: Hugo | February 22, 2006 04:38 PMGlancing is very important. Reading newspapers, you don't feel constrained by peering through a tiny window, like with phones.
That's a really good point.
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