A few days ago we commented on the blog an interesting Random House infographic that reviewed the topic of who reads e-books. In it the groups in which the electronic reader has the greatest impact, either by age, by reading habits, by proximity or affinity with the most current technologies ...
Without losing sight of this study, today we are going to review a group of readers (people) for whom electronic readers are a great help, I do not dare to qualify them as essential, but they do suppose an element that can significantly improve the reading experience.
In my family we are more than one and more than two inveterate readers and I still remember my grandfather reading the newspaper with his magnifying glass when age and vision loss made it difficult for him to continue enjoying one of his great hobbies. With this image in mind, I can't help but think how happy I would have been if I could have had a electronic ink reader like the ones we have right now in many houses.
I also have to admit that my grandfather was a "very modern" man and was always willing to try new gadgets, so an electronic reader or a tablet would have provided him many hours of entertainment, for sure. However, there are many older people are reluctant to use this type of device, despite the fact that they reduce the strain on the eyes and facilitate reading, so that they can read the text faster and with less effort without affecting comprehension.
Well, more than reluctant to try new things, we could say that for many older (and not so old) people the "real" book is the paper book. The other will be whatever it is, but not a book ... And that's when they comment on the touch and the smell.
To finish convincing older people who do not decide to make the leap to electronic reading devices, we can review the study conducted at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, comparing the brain activity and eye movement of two groups of different ages who read texts on paper, in electronic ink readers and on tablets: 36 people between 21 and 34 years old and a second group of 21 people over 60 years old.
La methodology it was simple: each participant had to read nine texts arranged according to their difficulty, from fiction texts to academic texts, and each text was read on paper, on an electronic reader and on a tablet. None of the participants had difficulty understanding the texts, but differences were observed depending on the reading devices.
The brain activity and reading time of the younger group were not affected by the reading device. However, in the group over 60 years reading on paper took more time and effort and reading on a tablet meant faster reading speeds and less effort.
El higher contrast that possess the backlit devices As tablets make it easier for older people to read and, although I am not in favor of them for reading, during the study it was not possible to conclude that they produced more eye strain than other devices without backlighting.
Apart from the conclusions reached by the study, there are other features of e-readers that, as simple users, allow us to appreciate how useful they can be for older people:
- Conclusion lighter than a good part of the books on paper.
- They offer the possibility of choose font and size source that best suits our needs at all times.
- Some readers allow us invert the screen (black background and "white" letters) in a way that improves reading under artificial light.
- La dictionary search it is more comfortable than with the paper book.
For anyone, the use of electronic reading devices can be a simple matter of comfort, for a old person or with some vision problem, a reader may come to assume the difference between being able to enjoy reading or having to give it up.
More information - Who reads e-books?
Source - Electronic readers 'better than books' for older people
Unfortunately, many of the older people who would try new gadgets can't because of their ridiculous pensions. For example, in the old people's house in Nou Barris (Barcelona), they are much more curious than many young people ... But with € 400 or € 500 a month you can buy little ...
True, with such low income it is not possible to access these devices, however in public libraries (I do not know if in all, but in many) there are electronic readers on loan.
And I don't know about other places, but here many older people visit the public library almost daily.
Thank you very much for the information, I have encountered many older people reluctant to electronic readers with arguments such as touch or smell. Certainly this news is a blow to said arguments, I will take this info into consideration the next time the famous discussion arises.
Another interesting point is that if someone were to analyze the carbon footprint of these devices, perhaps after 10 or 20 books read, they would end up being even greener. I have never read anything about it but I think that in the long term it is. Greetings and thanks again.
In the library where I work we have 30 Tagus that are continuously on loan. At first they were requested by young users between 25 and 35 years old, but their use is gradually spreading to older people, who ask us to explain their use, either out of curiosity (they do not want to be out of date) well attracted by the possibility of changing the size of the letter (it is what interests them the most). From my experience I think that what is most difficult for them is to get hold of the touch screen, since they lack the sensitivity in the fingers that younger people have developed by using objects such as mobile phones.
However, when you suggest a user between 15 and 25 years of age to use an electronic book (either by offering the reader, or by proposing its download in pdf from a website) they are quite reluctant, preferring the paper format to the digital one.
Thank you very much for the information you provide us, which is also first-hand.
What is the maximum loan time for each reader? The same as that of paper books? (It is to get an idea of the rotation it can have).
Very interesting. The mother (now older) of an acquaintance was given an electronic reader and she is very happy: being able to choose the font size is essential for her.
Another thing is what you were saying about pensions, for many retirees unfortunately it is out of reach because paying € 100 is a high percentage of their pension.