Some programs out there offer you the possibility of reading faster by avoiding eye movements and backtracking. The two most popular ones (web-based) are spreeder and ZAP Reader.
Some links on the technology:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Serial_Visual_Presentat…
http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-5785579.html
http://www.buddybuzz.net/rel/Web/index.html
The experience is jarring (as if reading online wasn’t hard enough on the eyes), but it does seem to decrease reading delays. Looks like spreeder’s also working on a login so you can track your speedreading progress.
Source: Teach yourself speed-reading with Spreeder – Lifehacker
Of course, your comprehension may be affected if you read on a difficult topic, but honestly, I can think of many things I read along the day that are easy and would benefit from a speed boost (blog posts being one of them).
However, the best implementation I have found is a little application called SpeedReader:
It’s not webbased (standalone) and the reading speed can be changed in real time. Check it out and see if this would work for you.
Technorati Tags: speedReading, productivity, software
Can you post a link to speed reader?
Sure Brendan, here you go:
http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12576&highlight=speedreader&sid=0e13706dba76960a0f6c5a7445d20ae3
I personally don’t feel this software will improve speed and comprehension will not be affected. Secondly I believe reading on computer is very different from reading a book. When you read a book you are more relaxed and don’t feel any eye strain as compared to reading on computer. Well, I haven’t tried SpeedReader yet so this is just a comment from personal experience of reading:)
I made my own version for dashboard. I also added the ability to specify how many words you see per flash.
Check out the demo and download it from here:
http://www.floencode.com/readit/
Interesting post! I learned speed reading a few months ago too. I think it is really a technique which everyone should learn, especially in this declining economy, everybody need to find some way to stand out of the crowd…