With the development of technology, the proportion of electronic reading has far exceeded that of physical books in recent years, but there are significant differences in reading experience and corresponding reading habits on different platforms. Here are some notes.
PC#
There is a vertical screen in the office for reading literature, which is a reading requirement that is almost impossible to replace with other devices. This is because only on a PC can you switch reading content at any time, retrieve relevant information on another screen, translate, or write.
The Mac version of WeChat Reading is a migration of the iPad version in terms of design experience and does not redesign the structured bookshelf according to the habits of PC users. The experience of reading non-professional books and serialized novels on it is generally average, and having too many work windows open makes it difficult to focus on reading.
iPad#
The experience of reading non-professional books on a tablet is very good, with top-notch screen quality, large enough pages, smooth page turning, and an electronic environment that is not disturbed by social software (hopefully no one likes to reply to messages on a tablet).
The experience of reading professional books on a tablet is second only to that of a PC. The biggest drawback is that it is too heavy to hold for a long time and the cumbersome operation of split-screen.
E-reader#
Due to reading habits, I use a 10-inch Onyx Boox e-reader, which I bought because it can simultaneously meet the needs of reading PDF documents and using WeChat Reading.
In actual experience, reading literature is somewhat difficult. The context of the split pages needs to be switched back and forth, and without splitting, it strains the eyes. For example, when I was reading a market research article called "The Wisdom of the Few" that was over ten pages long, I flipped through the pages more than a hundred times.
Reading non-professional books and serialized novels, on the other hand, is a perfect experience. Compared to iPads and physical books, e-readers are more portable and do not require external lighting conditions. The battery life is very long, making it easy to focus on reading. WeChat Reading's e-reader version is also well done, and you can download hundreds of books for offline reading without feeling like it's a mobile app. Obviously, it has been designed for a very small number of users, which is rare in the current Chinese internet application industry.
Mobile Phone#
Mobile phones are almost only used for reading serialized novels, not only because of hardware limitations but also due to usage habits.
Because the vast majority of users read on their phones, the paragraphs of serialized novels in recent years have become very short, almost abandoning all long sentence structures and contextual narratives in order to meet the habit of quickly reading on mobile phones. After getting used to reading several paragraphs on one screen of a phone, it becomes increasingly difficult to read non-professional books on a phone: the long and short paragraphs that require several pages to read are hard for mobile phone users to keep up with.
The information flow design of most mobile apps is designed to allow users to "see to the end on one screen," because we have already become accustomed to quickly switching information sources and shallow reading. After reading a few dozen pages on my phone, I have the urge to "check other apps," and my reading efficiency is much lower than on other devices.
Conclusion#
From my personal experience, there is a mutual filtering between reading devices and reading habits. Choosing the right platform and tools helps adjust reading habits and filter information sources.
In short, it is still important to read more books and good articles with a high signal-to-noise ratio, and read fewer recommendation streams filled with short-term information and emotions, especially when we are in the Chinese internet where inferior coins drive out good coins.
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Non-professional Books:
The Bait of Luck
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Serialized Novels:
The World's Harmonious Duet