Grab Bag

Speed Reading with New Technology

The technique of speed reading is exploding online. With the technology of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) you can speed read up to 700 words per minute and comprehend it all. With RSVP text is brought you your eyes unlike traditional reading where your eyes move towards the text. With practice RSVP may help you to read more quickly and with greater comprehension on your PC. The cool thing is that the words just keep coming at you and your mind can absorb them without running into two problems with regular reading which are regression and sub-vocalization. Sub-vocalization is the process of speaking each word inside your mind. The phonetics method of reading, the way we are taught in school, teaches you to pronounce each letter in a word to form a complete word. Regression is when the reader re-reads either consciously or sub-consciously.

I read an article about RSVP in Mobile magazine. They have an RSVP simulator on their website. Check it out here. So I checked it out and found a real speed reading program called Speed Reader Plus. I installed it on my Pocket PC and gave it a try. I read two short stories this morning. They were An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and one called If You Lived Here. Both together took me about 20 minutes total. I was up to 400 words a minute.

What I really want is the ability to speed read my Microsoft Reader books. I was unsuccessful in finding software that would do that. If anyone can find a speed reading software program for Microsoft Reader that would be great.

So I ended up finding Project Guttenberg. Project Guttenberg’s mission statement is “To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks.” Project Guttenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Guttenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.

I wasn’t sure what to start looking for so I picked through the top 100. Books are public domain books, lots of classics. I picked up.

I wonder if I can read any one of those books by the time I get home tomorrow? I wonder if my battery will last long enough.