The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

Speed readers, beware. A recent study seems to show that reading an e-book takes longer than reading a printed version.

The study was done by the Nielsen Norman Group (a advocacy group focused on human-centered products), which is unaffiliated with Nielsen, the market research firm. The study compared a PC, a Kindle 2, an iPad using iBooks, and a printed book.

It should be noted that the study group was very small, with only 24 test subjects (3 others were excluded because of "measurement flaws" and 5 others were pilot subjects). Subjects were given a literacy test to ensure a level playing field prior to the study, and the author of the material, a different short story on each platform, was Ernest Hemingway.

Subjects were given a brief comprehension questionnaire after each reading. NNG said subjects performed well on the tests (getting nearly all answers correct), so they didn't analyze the data further. The purpose of the quiz, they said, was to make sure the subjects took the reading seriously, as they would if they expected a quiz.

The results showed that on average, the stories took 17 minutes and 20 seconds to read. Compared to a printed book, the iPad readers were 6.2 percent slower; Kindle readers were 10.7 percent slower, but NNG said these e-book reader differences were not statistically significant. For some reason, however, NNG did not provide the data for reading at a PC.

What NNG did provide was information on the "experience" of reading at a PC. Based on a scale of 1-7, the scores were iPad 5.8, Kindle 5.7, and the printed book 5.6. Subjects hated reading on the PC, which was down at 3.6.

Interestingly, users still feel that reading a printed book is more relaxing than using electronic devices. One of the reasons for hating the PC: users said it reminded them too much of work.

What conclusions came out of the study? Well, NNG said that in terms of dedicated e-book readers, they can't say which is faster (Nook fans are probably annoyed at its exclusion from the study). They did say the printed book still "rules," but in reality a larger test group would seem to be required to get a definitive conclusion.

The future may change things, as e-book readers, including the more general iPad, continue to improve. One thing is certain: the market for e-books themselves is rising steadily, and that is where the money really is, the "consumables" of the market.