On Tuesday, 1st March 2011 at 14:34:10 (GMT +0100), Marcello Perathoner wrote:
You even cite vaporous experts (which experts?) and vaporous lay folk (what lay folk?).
All experts and all lay folk. In the history of humankind, there's never been a screen on a mobile device displaying 640 x 960 pixels on a 3.5-inch screen, and that quality shows -- dramatically! To deny the superiority of that screen over all other screens is just inane. (Not necessarily superiority in *all* aspects, see the inability to dim out the background, but *overall* superiority? Sure! In any case, using the phrase "the inferior iPhone 4 screen" the way you did is just ludicrous.)
But it's useless for long-term reading due to the tiny screen. It is just right for novels
No, it definitely isn't. I hate turning pages frequently, and I hate small letters -- and that's exactly what a small screen like Nexus One forces you to do: turn pages frequently while spoiling your eye-sight with letters that are too small. Like I said, I also own both Kindles, and whenever I can, I use the Kindle DX (which is the iPad's size), thanks to the comfortable font size *combined* with the need to turn pages less frequently than on the small Kindle (let alone a telephone's screen).
Granted, I wouldn't read Kant on a phone, but I don't find myself reading Kant all too often.
I do, but my preference for larger-screen devices is independent from the nature of the reading material.
Serious reading? The kind with a plushy red background?
Nope, I mean that some folks can do reading for a living. I graduated in English, American and German studies, which requires lots of *serious reading*. To do that type of reading on a *telephone* is a kind of ludicrous idea. ;-)
The volume keys alone make Aldiko superior to Stanza.
Nope: inferior, like I explained in my previous post. Volume keys are only available in a specific location of the device, whereas a touch-screen allows you to turn pages by using *any* tiny section of the touch-screen where your fingers happen to be nearest at that particular moment.
The volume keys happen to be in the exact right position
No, they don't. There is *no* "exact right position" on *any* device, because I like changing the position of the device while I'm reading. Sometimes I like holding/propping up the reading device with my left hand, and at other times with my right hand; since the volume keys are *not* available on *both* sides of the device, they are definitely inferior to turning pages via the touch-screen, because *both* sides of the touch screen can perform the same function for you (and if it's a phone, are reachable for your thumb no matter if it's your right or left thumb). :-P
so you can hit them while holding the phone to your ear.
Pardon me? :-o I use eyes rather than *ears* for reading. :-D
You don't have to move your fingers at all, they work with just a light press.
You only don't have to move your fingers if they *already are* touching the hardware buttons. And, that's a big nuisance: to require your fingers to be always near the required hardware buttons! Like I said, I own both Kindles, Marcello, so I can see on a daily basis how much easier it is to turn pages in Stanza using the touch-screen than it is on the Kindles using their hardware buttons. Kindle DX, although my favourite device for daytime reading, is the worst in this regard, because (inexplicably!) it only features these hardware buttons on the right side, unlike the small Kindle, where the "Next Page" button is available both on the right and on the left side of the device. That is still inferior to Stanza's touch-screen, though.
Now compare that to having to move your thumb all the way
There is no "all the way", Marcello. You only need to move your thumb *half an inch* to turn a page in Stanza, because *any section* of Stanza's touch-screen can be used to turn a page.
then doing some swipe motion
Again, *no swipe motion* is required at all in Stanza. A light tap is enough!
then putting the thumb back where it can hold the phone.
The thumb typically does not hold the phone at all. It merely touches a side of the device, that's all. And unlike with the volume keys, it can be both the right or the left side of the device.
Also, to tap the screen you have to move a digit in front of the screen thus hiding a portion of what you are reading.
Not at all. I don't read the *top* of a page while I'm moving on to the next page -- and it's just as easy to move your thumb to the top section of the iPhone's tiny screen as it is to move your thumb to the lower section of that screen. It's a non-issue. It's as if you said that turning pages in a paper book is problematic for you in that the act obscures the page for a brief moment that you've just finished reading. :-D And here's a feature especially for you, Marcello... Do you know what that swipe that you so despise can do on Stanza? This: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10440809/misc/Stanza_swipe.png As you can see, the simulation of turning physical book pages is immaculate. You can perform a swipe *veeeery graaaadually*, displaying as much content of the 1st/2nd page as you wish. Far from obscuring the content of the page that is being turned, Stanza in fact allows you to accomplish something unique: peeking at the content of *2 pages at the same time*, just as you can do that when turning paper book pages. Can outdated volume keys or any hardware buttons perform this wizardry the way a swipe can? No, sir! And again: swiping in Stanza is an *option* giving you extra features -- not a necessity.
If the digit is the thumb and you hold the phone in your right hand and you are reading a LTR script then you obscure the very last words you need to read before the page turn.
Definitely not! Marcello, that's just unadulterated, dogmatic nonsense from you. I really am surprised. :-o Here is the typical way I hold my iPhone, no matter if in my left or right hand: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10440809/misc/holding_the_iPhone.jpg As you can see, the thumb is nowhere near "the very last words" on the page when you need to turn it! You'd have to have very weird hands if that was the case. ;-) The thumb typically rests towards the *top* side of the iPhone (no matter if right or left), and therefore it's extremely easy to turn the page simply by tapping the screen lightly. No swipe required! And due to the narrow screen, it makes it no more difficult to tap the right or the left side of the screen -- in case you wanted to turn back to the previous page. Plus, there's the additional *option* (not a necessity!) to use a swipe in the required direction.
"Swipe" for page turn is the archetypical user interface faux-pas.
Again, a swipe is *never* needed to turn a page. And, it's not a faux-pas either, but a very smart invention, especially on a large-screen device such as the iPad. Why? Because no matter which side of the iPad you happen to be holding (left, right, top, bottom), you can use a mini-swipe to turn to the next or previous page. Any section of the touch-screen will do! So, while holding the iPad with my left hand, I can *still* turn to the next page while moving my left thumb only half an inch in a mini-swipe; that is, I can use the *left* portion of Stanza's screen to move *forward* as well. In contrast, if I were to use hardware buttons, I'd *always* have to have my fingers near those hardware buttons -- in other words, near *one* specific side of the device. And *that* is a big nuisance (compared to the iPad/iPhone), as daily usage of the Kindles shows me.
The appropriate user interface element for that is a button.
It's not, because a button can only be located *somewhere* on a device, forcing you to keep your fingers close to that specific location. Using the potential of the entire, huge touch-screen for page turning is a lot smarter, a lot more effective and appropriate.
But if you hold the phone palms down, like when laying on your back, it tends to escape.
Sorry, Marcello, but just as I don't read books using my ears, I don't read books while holding *any* device, no matter how light-weight, over my head. You're certainly depicting some weird scenarios there. :-D Reading something while holding the device "palms down" is extremely rare, I'd say -- it would soon tire your entire arm, due to a large portion (or all) of your arm being needlessly suspended in the air. Plus, even during those rare moments when you might be holding a reading device "palms down", it's extremely easy to perform the light tap (no swipe needed!) by moving your thumb, right or left thumb (!), to turn a page.
the fine drag-and-drop utility called DeDrm. Of course you have to buy a Mac for that.
Of course you don't. The last time I used a Mac was in the 1990s. -- Yours, Alex. www.aboq.org [processed by "The Bat!", Version 4.2.10.12]