Scientific Study

Study Suggests Better Tech Means Higher Reading Comprehension on the Small Screen

12 December, 2016 // 3 Comments

New research from the Neilsen Norman group casts doubt on previous research which had shown that readers are no longer losing reading comprehension when they read on smaller screens. In 2010, [Read More ...]

Updated: Reading Books Will Help You Live Longer, Researchers Say

4 August, 2016 // 9 Comments

The NYTimes and other news orgs may have just fallen into another correlation/causation trap. Yesterday they published an article which implies that you will live longer if you read books: Reading [Read More ...]

Computer Vision Syndrome, or Why We Would All be Better Off With an E-ink Monitor

5 June, 2016 // 13 Comments

The NYTimes published an article last week which reminds us why an expensive toy like Dasung's E-ink monitor is less an indulgence than a necessity. The article delves into computer vision [Read More ...]

New Error-Ridden Report Looks at eBook Market in Europe

11 February, 2016 // 1 Comment

The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) just wasted a lot of people's time. The EPRS has published a new briefing document on the state of the ebook market in Europe, but unfortunately [Read More ...]

Study Finds Open Source Textbooks as Effective as Commercial

15 November, 2015 // 3 Comments

A recent study has found that college students who used open educational resources (OER) in their undergraduate courses performed as well or better than those assigned commercial textbooks, even [Read More ...]

Could the Future of Reading be Text Plus Audio?

13 September, 2015 // 4 Comments

When it comes to reading on paper versus reading digitally, there are a hundred and one conflicting and contradictory studies that show that one format is better than the other. Students have higher [Read More ...]

Studies Disagree on Whether Readers Absorb Less on Kindles than on Paper

20 August, 2014 // 9 Comments

The Guardian reported yesterday on a new study which showed that reading on a Kindle led test subjects to recall fewer details from the story, leading some to speculate that we've reached the edges [Read More ...]

Study: eBooks Beat Print Books at Helping Young Kids Learn Words

6 May, 2014 // 5 Comments

With some studies showing enhanced ebooks hurt while other studies show that ebook readers help readers learn, the jury is still out on the topic of whether ebooks help or hurt reading comprehension. [Read More ...]

Enhanced eBooks Don’t Necessarily Enhance Education

14 April, 2014 // 5 Comments

We've long known that when games and other enhancements are added to ebooks they can distract readers from paying attention to the text, and now it appears that enhancements can have a negative [Read More ...]

New Report Suggests Wifi is Probably Not Frying Your Brain

5 April, 2014 // 0 Comments

A new report from the Royal Society of Canada calls into question the ongoing urban legends about the possible harmful effects of Wifi. The 165 page report was generated on behalf of Health Canada as [Read More ...]

Study: It’s Easier (For Some) to Read on LCD Screens Than in a Paper Book

9 February, 2013 // 11 Comments

I have long held the position that LCD screens aren't as evil as everyone claims, and that the belief that E-ink is better for you eyes is a myth. Now there is new evidence that reading on an LCD [Read More ...]

Does the Backlight on the iPad Really Help Improve Reading Speed? Maybe Not

13 November, 2012 // 0 Comments

There's a story going around today about a recent study at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. According to most press accounts, ophthalmologists at the school have shown that readers with [Read More ...]

Study: E-ink is NOT Better for Your Eyes Than LCDs

2 October, 2012 // 84 Comments

If you've been reading ebooks for any length of time then you've probably heard about how E-ink screens are nicer on the eyes than LCD screens. It's simply common sense that not having a light shine [Read More ...]

Do eBooks Make It Harder to Recall What You Just Read? Answer: No

14 March, 2012 // 10 Comments

I'm rather busy with a conference right now, but there's an article that was posted today that has me pissed. I have to respond to it. Time has an article on their website today which asks the [Read More ...]

That funky font study actually does mean what it says

17 January, 2011 // 3 Comments

So an interesting study showed up on the internet in the past few days (Daily Mail). Three grad students at Princeton University and Indiana University did an experiment to test the effect a font had [Read More ...]