It occurred to me whilst reading a PDF document how different the physical process is from most other kinds of reading. In fact it confounds the ordinary bibliographic relationship of a fixed object (the book) and a scanning observer (the reader).
Instead I am presented with a stream, the flow of which I control using my hands (always at some distance from the text). Using the scroll-wheel on my mouse, or keyboard shortcuts, I activate and control the movement in an interestingly abstract way – one that is not specific to the text or the object. Each book demands a different relationship to the reader as we negotiate its weight, texture, fragility, legibility and so forth. The actions needed to view this PDF are the same as for any PDF and almost the same as those used to view a web page or a large image.
At the centre of the process is a conflict between trying to follow the flow of text from left to right and top to bottom (which is how I was taught to read) and trying to maintain a constant position for my eyes as the text moves past.
Should we start teaching children to read on screen rather that with books? After all, its probably how they will do most of their reading anyway and it would reduce some of the physical barriers that us book-taught readers encounter.
The physical conflict of reading screens
Instead I am presented with a stream, the flow of which I control using my hands (always at some distance from the text). Using the scroll-wheel on my mouse, or keyboard shortcuts, I activate and control the movement in an interestingly abstract way – one that is not specific to the text or the object. Each book demands a different relationship to the reader as we negotiate its weight, texture, fragility, legibility and so forth. The actions needed to view this PDF are the same as for any PDF and almost the same as those used to view a web page or a large image.
At the centre of the process is a conflict between trying to follow the flow of text from left to right and top to bottom (which is how I was taught to read) and trying to maintain a constant position for my eyes as the text moves past.
Should we start teaching children to read on screen rather that with books? After all, its probably how they will do most of their reading anyway and it would reduce some of the physical barriers that us book-taught readers encounter.