How the iPad changed my reading habits
And it’s probably not what you think.
Ever since getting my first iPad back in April 2010 I’ve begun to notice something odd; reading on a computer screen totally sucks. And when I say computer screen, I mean the display that is attached to your laptop or connected to your PC and is perpendicular to the Earth. I’ve never noticed it before, but reading on a screen that is vertically oriented is actually very fatiguing.
Reading small snippets here and there works okay but try reading any long form writing and you’ll be sure to tire, poop out and give up a lot quicker than had you been reading the same long form writing in a book or magazine, or say, an iPad. It’s the fact that you use an iPad in the same orientation as you would read a book or magazine, parallel or near parallel to the Earth, that makes it so much easier to read on.
There is a reason why we’ve been reading books and magazines in this orientation for hundreds of years now; it’s less tiring because you don’t hold up what you’re reading, you rest it on your lap or on a table, and your head and neck rest in a natural position, slightly skewed down instead of straight back and forward. Even though you’re not holding up your computer monitor when you read, it still feels fatiguing just because you have your head and neck up and back and looking straight ahead.
And given the relative ease and enjoyment in which I can read on my iPad, I’ve nearly given up reading anything longer than a couple paragraphs on my computer. Where previously I would either stop reading or slog it out if it was a particularly interesting subject, now anything longer than a couple paragraphs I use Instapaper’s Read Later bookmarklet and then literally read it later on my iPad where I know I will be able to read and consume the content a lot easier and with a lot more enjoyment.
Just one of the odd ways that the iPad has changed my behavior and life.
