Study Finds That Reading Books on the Kindle is Slower Than Paper

We all know that e-books are becoming increasingly popular.  The iPad has sold more than 2 million units, and sold even more books through the iBookstore.  It’s also nigh-impossible to go through one day in the New York City subway without seeing at least one person reading on a Kindle or nook.  But, that that mean that it’s better for reading?

A recent study has proven that reader comprehension doesn’t seem to change between formats, whether they be paper, iPad, Kindle 2 or desktop PC {PC World}.  What definitely did change in the study, which held only 27 participants, was that reading on paper was typically faster than reading an e-book.  The difference between reading time iPad and the Kindle 2 was found to be “not statistically significant.”  That doesn’t mean that users didn’t like reading e-books.  On a scale of 1 to 7, users rated the iPad first at 5.8, followed by the Kindle 2 at 5.7, and paper books at 5.6; the desktop PC scored a lowly 3.6 as it reminded users of work.

What the study didn’t cover is whether users would be more likely to read e-books rather than carrying around a book with them.  Readers like the Kindle 2, and even the iPad are much more portable than most books – especially hardcovers books.  They also make getting new books much easier than before.  It could stand to reason that because users enjoy using the iPad or Kindle 2 even just a bit more than printed paper, they’d use those devices to read more than they would otherwise.  We’ve seen this anecdotally, devices like the iPad and Nook just entice us to use them, and are generally less cumbersome than thick novels.