Whoa. I'm not sure what to think of this.

sfgiantsjo

http://elitedaily.com/news/technology/this-insane-new-app-will-allow-you-to-read-novels-in-under-90-minutes/

ZeusLBA

I don't like it.  I feel like I  I speed through it I have  idea what in reading.

Menrandes

I think it would actually be good in certain applications. But when reading to relax, which I do, I don't think it fits the bill.

lab7979

It's too fast.  I feel like I'm just skimming over it and not absorbing it all.  I'd feel like I was missing out on the experience.  I want to be able to sit down, relax and enjoy a book not read as much as possible, as fast as possible. 

SacGeoLover

Menrandes said:

I think it would actually be good in certain applications. But when reading to relax, which I do, I don't think it fits the bill.

This.  I don't think I'd like it for leisurely reading.  If only I'd had this in college though...

Adjudi-Kate

I would definitely do it.  I love reading, but my time in the day is limited.   I'm all about efficiency!

jenndawnp

I don't like it either, I like to mull over the words sometimes and enjoy reading.  The 500 wpm makes my eyeballs hurt.

jjr1214

I kept missing words when I blinked at the faster speeds! I think it would be nice for school or work but it couldn't replace reading for relaxation. I just accepted the kindle into my life, I am not ready for another way to change reading.

quickstepstar

I think it is a neat idea, but I agree with the previous poster: reading for me is for relaxation. I am not reading to finish N number of books or whatever (although that would be good for challenges ). But that's part of the reason I don't do challenges any more -- I want to enjoy books that I read, and to me being able to go back and re-read parts, or just savor some passages is much more important.

jackiback

Add me to the "good for studying/technical reading, not as great for novels and relaxation" camp. 

sweetc129

I feel like my head is spinning, but I agree this would have been great in college.

denmanam

I agree with others. It would definitely be helpful when it comes to reading for school or work, but I don't think I'd like it for my pleasure reading. Sure, I'd like to read more books with my limited time, but I also enjoy getting lost in a book. I don't think I'd be able to do that with the words flying by.

GilliC

I'm very surprised that so many people are saying that it's too fast!

Most of the people on this board already read well above 500 words per minute, so it should be pretty easy to keep up, no?
http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12009875/how-fast-do-you-read

GilliC

I already know that I take a while to comprehend and stew over the nuances of what I'm reading, which is why my reading speed is among the slowest here. I don't really have a desire to change that, so I would be hitting pause on that thing all the time to give myself time to reflect.

jackiback

I think that I probably read at that speed (??) but I feel like novels have a certain cadence and voice and I read all of that in a robot voice  

Passanie

Interesting. Presumably you could set your own speed. I wonder if there's side effects though, like eyes/brain getting tired, etc.

AshleyT121

jackiback said:

I think that I probably read at that speed (??) but I feel like novels have a certain cadence and voice and I read all of that in a robot voice  

Precisely my thinking. 

GreenBride624

GilliC said:

I'm very surprised that so many people are saying that it's too fast!

Most of the people on this board already read well above 500 words per minute, so it should be pretty easy to keep up, no?
http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12009875/how-fast-do-you-read

But I think there is a difference between taking a "quiz" to test wpm & wanting to enjoy your novel.

I agree with the others... this could be good for text books but not so good for "enjoyment" reading.

sfgiantsjo

I imagine that several chapters would fly by every darn time my husband interrupts my reading to tell me about something he saw on TV. :-t I love him, but sheesh.

Also, it's makes reading feel like a test, how fast can you get through it with some comprehension. The beauty of language and words gets lost. Books are about more than the story. Even typography or the feel of the pages is part of the experience.

Lauren620

sfgiantsjo said:

I imagine that several chapters would fly by every darn time my husband interrupts my reading to tell me about something he saw on TV. :-t I love him, but sheesh. Also, it's makes reading feel like a test, how fast can you get through it with some comprehension. The beauty of language and words gets lost. Books are about more than the story. Even typography or the feel of the pages is part of the experience.

All of this.  I do think that this would have been great for school or occasionally for work (depending on what I'm reading). 

84Lauren

Ok, I might be crazy... but I felt like this slowed me down, not sped me up.  It totally feels like a robot like @jackiback said, because I'm only seeing each word one at a time, with the sparest mental pause in between.  When my brain processes the change in words, in automatically puts a hyphen between them.

I-read-this-differently-than

I would read this.

Not being able to see all the words in a sentence at once is totally freaky and I would think THAT is what causes the lack of feeling/cadence/comprehension/whatever you guys are saying, not that it's too fast.

But I'm not a super smart scientist like the people who put this together, soooo ::shrugs::

84Lauren

AND, now that I'm thinking about it, I really think there IS scientific research out there that shows that we don't actually read every word of a sentence.  Our brain puts the whole thing together, so when certain words are missing we don't even notice.

This FORCES you to read every single word separately... it just doesn't make sense to me that centering the words and highlighting a single letter would make up for that.

GilliC

GreenBride624 said:

GilliC said:

I'm very surprised that so many people are saying that it's too fast!

Most of the people on this board already read well above 500 words per minute, so it should be pretty easy to keep up, no?
http://forums.thenest.com/discussion/12009875/how-fast-do-you-read

But I think there is a difference between taking a "quiz" to test wpm & wanting to enjoy your novel.

I agree with the others... this could be good for text books but not so good for "enjoyment" reading.

Ah! I read the poll question as "How fast do you read?" Not "How fast can you read?"

My bad. No wonder I'm so far below the norm.

AllieAlba

I didn't find it too fast, but I did find it annoying. And I had to reread everything to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And as PPS have said, it makes it seem robotic. Plus, as @GilliC has said, most of us read faster than 500 words a minute, it actually slowed me down, not sped me up.