A few weeks ago, my eyes started bothering me when reading things on the computer. I think they were just tired, because they seem fine now. However I did make one small change that has proved useful. I’ve tried to stop reading news on the Internet. I subscribed to the Wall Street Journal and it comes every day with more news than I care to read. If I catch myself starting to go to a news site on the internet, I stop and pick up the newspaper. I’ve found that this reduces the amount of time I spend reading news and the quality of what I’m reading is usually higher.
…think they were just tired…
Yeah, that’s what I thought too. However, I’d just turned 40, and within
6 months, I needed reading glasses. Dang it.
I’m sorry but I have to respectively disagree. I understand it from a productivity point of view, but thats not just constrained to news, that’s any reading of any article on the Internet.
You have now restricted yourself to maybe one or two sources of mainstream news, instead of the wide range of information available on the Internet.
@Joy – Well after not using the computer for a week they seem fine. I’m trying to be careful though. The odd things is that they seem fine for everything other than the computer screen. I’m curious if the new LED monitors would be more comfortable on my eyes.
@Andrew – That is a good point. Fortunately most of the news I’m reading is more factual than opinion based. I like to watch for new product releases, the financial markets, and stuff like that. If I’m looking for commentary about the elections I tend to use http://blogsearch.google.com to try to get more of a grassroots feel. But that is usually a very very small fraction of the reading I do.
I can’t say that i agree with this either. My husband and I cancelled our Dallas Morning News subscription recently because we realized that online news is more timely and more thorough. From an environmental perspective, you don’t have the mountain of recycling to deal with. On top of that, most newspapers (DMN in particular) are overloaded with ads, so your content-to-ad ratio is very low– it’s much more efficient to scan headlines using a news aggregate like Google Reader, and read only the articles that interest you.
In a way, using Google Reader is like using Tivo– it lets you skip all the ads, and jump right to the things you are interested in, with the result that you get a lot more content in less time.
Also, I find it more informative to read about the same piece of news as represented by several different news sources, as you tend to get a more balanced view overall.
If you’re suffering from eye strain from looking at your computer, maybe you should look at other alternatives like changing your font size, changing Cleartype settings, changing your monitor’s refresh rate, reducing the contrast on your monitor, or some of these tips: http://www.art.eonworks.com/archive/2007/how-to-reduce-eye-strain_20070731.html.
And don’t forget Leonardo’s tip for maintaining eye health: at least once an hour, focus on something as far in the distance as you can. Too much close-up focusing is hard on your eyes whether you’re reading a newspaper or a computer screen.
@Amy – Thanks for your input. I’ve tried changing font size, getting reading glasses, etc. I use a flat panel monitor so the refresh rate isn’t an issue. For some reason paper doesn’t bother my eyes (regardless of how small the print), but the computer screen does if I spend hours reading in addition to my regular computer work.
I’ll try lowering the contrast as that is a new idea for me.
Regarding scanning headlines, the WSJ has a column on the front page that lets you do just that, so it is pretty efficient to read.
I like to get comfortable when I read.
I like to be able to sit up or lay on my side in bed or stretch out on the couch.
When I’m traveling by bus I don’t like anything heavy on my lap (such as a laptop).
I’m just so used to the flexibility that a paperback book or even a trade soft-cover book can give. I’ve even been known to read a hard cover book or two on the bus. [grin]
I love computers and the Internet, I just love books more when it comes to reading. Especially, if a computer glitch deletes some information or a great story that I was reading, or it malfunctions in some other way. If I drop my book on the floor I can just pick it up to retrieve it, If I lose my information or story on my computer, now we’re talking a somewhat lengthy or even extensive process to get it back, I would suspect. I used to print out information and/or stories to read but that’s way too expensive because of the cost of the ink.
I especially hate it that now a lot of Web sites have excruciatingly small text to fit all their information on as few pages as possible to save their bandwidth or make their site easier to navigate which requires the user to either add a plug-in to their browser, use the text size adjustment tool (when there is one) that’s already on the Web site, or live with it. The problem with using a browser add-on is that it may make one Web site very easy to read but for another it makes it hard if not impossible to read because that Web site has normal-sized text to begin with and the add-on makes the text way too large to even see. I, myself, have no problem reading the tiny text but I don’t find it comfortable. I’m sure that it is straining my eyes. I’m sure that I could read much faster as well with a larger text size, although, that’s just conjecture on my part. Anyway, enough rambling.
Here’s some really interesting facts about laptop computers (various weights, etc). It’s about a 1/2 page long. I think that you might enjoy checking it out.
http://compreviews.about.com/od/buyers/a/Laptop-Size-and-Weight-Guide.htm
Well that has been my concern for a long while now and I’ve been trying to search for the best alternative. As mentioned by Ruth, there are numerous add-on features that can make e-reading a bit more enjoyable including the “turn off the light” feature that google chrome offers which downgrades the contrast so that the monitor’s backlight bothers less. Unfortunately, we are basically doomed to online reading and it’s only going to get worse now with all this new technology coming out (smartphones, ereaders, touchscreen devices, etc.). It’s as if an important part of human brain capacity is only working on devices rather than comfort. It’s important to stress the discomfort and strain we ALL get whether we feel it or not; maybe that way someone will create an eye-protector-ware that we can all benefit from.