A program for easy reading on a computer. FB2 Readers
Who just did not predict the end of books with the beginning of the development of computer technology. However, progress is progress, but books both lived and live (and will live). It's just that everything has changed somewhat - electronic folios have come to replace paper folios.
And this, I must say, has its advantages: on the most ordinary computer or tablet (on Android), more than one thousand books can fit, each of which can be opened and read in a matter of seconds; there is no need to keep a large closet in the house to store them - everything fits on a PC disk; in electronic video, it is convenient to make bookmarks and reminders, etc.
The best e-book readers (*.fb2, *.txt, *.doc, *.pdf, *.djvu and more)
For Windows
Several useful and convenient "readers" that will help you immerse yourself in the process of absorbing another book while sitting at your computer.
Cool Reader
One of the most common programs for both Windows and Android (although in my opinion, for the latter, there are programs that are more convenient, but about them below).
Of the main features:
- supports formats: FB2, TXT, RTF, DOC, TCR, HTML, EPUB, CHM, PDB, MOBI (i.e. all the most common and in demand);
- adjusting the brightness of the background and fonts (a mega handy thing, you can make reading convenient for any screen and person!);
- auto-swiping (convenient, but not always: sometimes you read one page for 30 seconds, another for a minute);
- convenient bookmarks (this is very convenient);
- the ability to read books from archives (this is also very convenient, because many are distributed online in archives);
AL Reader
Another very interesting "reader". Of its main advantages: it is the ability to choose encodings (which means that when opening a book, “crack-zabras” and unreadable characters are practically excluded); support for both popular and rare formats: fb2, fb2.zip, fbz, txt, txt.zip, partial support for epub (without DRM), html, docx, odt, rtf, mobi, prc (PalmDoc), tcr.
In addition, it should be noted that this program can be used both when working with Windows and Android. I also want to note that this program has enough fine-tuning of brightness, fonts, indents, and other “things” that will help adjust the display to an ideal state, regardless of the equipment used. I recommend it for an unambiguous acquaintance!
FBReader In my humble opinion, this is one of the the best programs for reading e-books on Android. I use it on my tablet all the time.
Judge for yourself:
- a huge number of formats are supported: FB2, ePub, PDF, DJVU, MOBI, PDF, HTML, DOC, RTF, TXT (including audio formats: MP3, AAC, M4B and Read Books Out Loud (TTS));
- completely in Russian;
- convenient search, bookmarks, brightness adjustment, etc.
Those. a program from the category - installed 1 time and forgot about it, you just use it without thinking! I recommend trying it, a screenshot from it below.
FullReader+
Another handy android app. I also often use it, opening one book in the first reader (see above), and the second in this one :).
Main advantages:
- support for a bunch of formats: fb2, epub, doc, rtf, txt, html, mobi, pdf, djvu, xps, cbz, docx, etc.;
- the ability to read aloud;
- convenient setting of the background color (for example, you can make the background like a real old book, some people like it);
- built-in file manager (it’s convenient to immediately search for what you need);
- a convenient "memory" of recently opened books (and reading the current one).
Book cataloging
For those who have a lot of books, it is quite difficult to do without some kind of cataloguer. Keeping in mind hundreds of authors, publishers, what has been read and what has not yet been read, to whom something has been given is a rather difficult task. And in this regard, I would like to highlight one utility - All My Books.
All My Books
A simple and convenient cataloger. Moreover, one important point: you can catalog both paper books (which are on your shelf in your closet) and electronic ones (including audio books that have become popular recently).
The main advantages of the utility:
- quick addition of books, it is enough to know one thing: the author, title, publisher, etc.;
- completely in Russian;
- supported by popular Windows OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10;
- there is no manual "red tape" - the program loads all the data in auto-mode (including: price, cover, publisher data, year of issue, authors, etc.).
Everything is quite simple and fast. We press the "Insert" button (or through the "Book / Add book" menu), then we enter something that we remember (in my example, just "Urfin Juice") and press the search button.
We will see a table with the options found (with covers!): from them you will have to choose exactly the one you were looking for. The one I was looking for you can see in the screenshot below. In total, everything about everything (adding a whole book) took about 15-20 seconds!
Despite all the advantages of digital sources of information, over the past few years there has been growing evidence that our brains prefer analog media.
According to research The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking. psychologists from Princeton University and the University of California at Los Angeles, it is much easier to remember something important. According to psychotherapist and journalism expert Maud Purcell, the reason for this may be that writing stimulates an area of the brain known as the reticular activating system, which filters and brings clarity to the main body of information we focus on.
It turned out that the absorption of information from paper contributes to its better retention in memory and increased productivity. Anne Mangen, professor at the Reading Center at the Norwegian University of Stavanger, conducted a study in which she gave participants the same 28-page detective story - some on paper, and some on an Amazon Kindle reader. After that, they were asked a series of questions about the text.
Those who read the story from paper gave more correct answers to questions related to time and chronology than those who read from the Kindle. And when the participants were asked to put the 14 events in the correct order, those who read the paper book scored the best.
Anna Mangen
Scientists have yet to fully analyze this study. But Mangen links the benefit of reading paper books to a deficit in metacognition. According to the professor, metacognition is how consciously we relate to information. “For example, how much time do you spend reading a text to understand a text well enough to solve a related problem,” says Mangen.
Participants in another study Metacognitive regulation of text learning: on screen versus on paper. it was believed that they comprehend information better when they read from the screens of electronic devices. Because of this, they swallowed the text much faster than those who read from paper, and believed that they would perform better in a quiz on the text. As a result, fans of the traditional format not only benefited in terms of understanding the text, but also better predicted their results.
No need to read everything from paper
With books, the situation is clear, but does the brain absorb information as well when reading newspapers, magazines, and other physical media? Not necessarily.
“Length really seems to be the main issue, and a number of other text parameters, such as structure and formatting, are closely related to it. Is the content presented in such a way that you are required to keep several events or parts of text in mind at the same time? Mangin continues. In other words, the complexity and density of information can influence the importance of the text source.
“It may be that for certain types of text or literary genres (e.g. overly engaging books) the source plays little role, while in the case of other genres (e.g. cognitively and emotionally complex novels) the source may matter. to understand and perceive the book,” explains Mangen. “But this has yet to be empirically tested.”
No need to stretch your hand to the print button when receiving the next letter, unless it is comparable in length to a novel. Reading short messages from the screen is unlikely to interfere with understanding and.
Print and digital information can coexist peacefully
Printed information is not always as good for understanding and remembering as digital information. It is useful to remember that all media and technologies have their own user interfaces. The user interface of paper, in some cases, can have a better effect on the memorization and assimilation of complex information than electronic devices.
But in other cases, such as when giving presentations with audiovisual materials, a device like a tablet will be more useful. There is no one-stop solution. It all depends on a number of factors related to the content, the reader, the purpose of reading or the situation.
Take your time when reading e-books
If you can't give up e-books, it doesn't mean that all is lost for you. You probably think you're absorbing information faster than you actually are, so .
The simple solution is to slow down and focus more on debriefing. This will help to perceive information as well as when reading from paper.
How does the information carrier affect the comprehensibility of the material?
For parents and teachers, the question of whether computer materials improve or worsen education is of fundamental importance. With the growing popularity of e-books, online learning and open educational resources, researchers are trying to determine how much a particular medium affects the assimilation of information by students.
However, the answer to this question is ambiguous.
Electronic and traditional reading
In my research, I compared reading with electronic and paper media. From 2013 to 2015, I collected data from 429 university students in five countries: the US, Japan, Germany, Slovenia, and India.
Students in the study reported that paper-based reading was aesthetically more pleasing, citing reasons such as "I like the smell of paper" or that paper-based reading is "real reading." Moreover, reading printed text allows them to feel where they are in the book - they can "see" and "feel" where they are in the text.
Printed text also puts less strain on the eyes and is less conducive to multitasking. Nearly half of respondents complained of visual strain when reading from digital media (“eyes burn”), and 67% said they were more likely to do many things at once when reading from a screen (compared to 41% of paper readers).
At the same time, study participants praised digital reading for a number of benefits, including the ability to read in the dark, ease of finding information (“many quick available information”), saving paper, and even multitasking while reading.
Digestibility measurement
However, a more important question was whether, when reading from a screen, similar amount information.
To measure the level of learning, some scientists have asked students to read a piece of text from paper or digital media, and then tested them for their level of reading comprehension.
Most of the studies found that participants scored roughly the same when reading from any medium, although some indicated that students performed better on tests after reading a printed text.
Yet the problem with these studies is that their understanding of "learning" is rather simplistic. Reading passages and answering questions may be a standard checking tool, but it tells us little about deeper levels of understanding of the material.
Some researchers are starting to ask narrower questions: for example, one scholar looked at what happens when students read a story on paper or on a screen and then try to recreate the plot sequence. Answer: when reading from paper, the results are better.
Another aspect of learning learning research is to see how the results differ when students read in less structured experimental settings. However, scientists allowed students to choose how much time to spend reading from one medium or another. They saw that participants who spent less time reading texts on the screen performed worse on the subsequent comprehension test.
This is not surprising, given the tendency for many of us to skim through text and search online instead of reading slowly and carefully. In my study, one student noted, "It takes longer to read the same number of pages of printed text as compared to electronic text." Another complained that it took him longer because he "read more carefully."
Reading and critical thinking
How does the issue of learning relate to educational goals? Now there is a lot of noise around teaching students critical thinking. The definitions of this goal are rather vague, but it is clear that they include the ability to understand complex ideas, evaluate evidence, weigh alternative perspectives, and make defensible arguments.
To become a master of critical thinking - at least in a literary society - students need to be able to handle texts. Texts can be long, complex, or a combination of both. To be clear, students cannot skim through the text, get ahead of themselves, or be constantly distracted.
To what extent does reading paper texts, unlike electronic texts, help to learn critical thinking?
The comprehension studies cited above say little about the kind of reading that is considered necessary for serious reflection or analysis. An alternative approach, at least for beginners, is to ask students how they read texts from digital or paper media. It's like doctors taking medical history (besides physicals and lab tests) to see what works for patients.
While I didn't directly measure test comprehension in my study, I did ask students about how they read and what they prefer in that regard. The answers to some of my questions revealed a lot of new things.
When asked what medium helps them focus better, 92% answered “paper”. For long academic readings, 86% prefer printed text. Participants also responded that they reread educational material if it is printed on paper.
Moreover, some students answered that they consider paper media to be better for learning. One of them said, "It's easier to concentrate." Others stated, "I feel like it makes the content easier to digest in my head," and "I feel like I understand the text more."
In comparison, with regard to digital screens, students reported "danger of distraction" and "lack of focus".
Obviously, the perception of students differs from the measurable results of the assimilation of the material. And my research didn't test the link between reading media and critical thinking. However, I noticed a certain pattern: printed text is more preferable for serious tasks.
Digital media is more convenient and cheaper
At the same time, we cannot ignore other factors that influence students' decisions about which medium they should use to read study materials.
Convenience is enough important factor: Over 40% of respondents in my survey cited convenience (including easy access to content) as the criterion they most value in screen reading.
Money is another variable. Students think a lot about the different prices for printed and digital reading materials, with price often being the determining factor in choosing. As one student said, “Cost is everything to me.”
Many students noted the discrepancy between the available finances and the cost of education. When asked which medium they would choose for training if the cost were the same, 87% said "printed".
Adapting to learning from digital media
It is also necessary to be mindful of the growing tendency for universities to tailor their curriculum to fit the legendary "Procrustean" bed of the digital world - a world prepared for swiping, scanning, and using the "search" function instead of reading slowly and thoughtfully into the text.
Professors are now trying to avoid long and complex reading assignments and give short (or more direct) texts, moving closer to the rules of digital reading in the non-academic world. This world promotes abbreviated texts and shorter reading materials that are easier to swallow.
So the question is, how exactly can universities help students read texts thoughtfully, reflect on them, and not be distracted by digital media?
One of the keys may be adaptation. Research suggests that students may be overconfident about what they understand when reading digital devices Oh. Teach them to pay attention to how they read from the screen (for example, by writing key words from the text), this can help with the absorption of the material.
Another form of adaptation is used in the world of digital devices and software. Modern screens put less strain on the eyes, and annotation programs continue to improve. Some digital reading devices are now available with paper-based flipping and the ability to bookmark "pages".
However, while short and abbreviated texts are well-suited for digital consumption, this is not the kind of reading that encourages critical thinking, which is considered a hallmark of higher education.
A few years ago, I came across an article whose author believed that mentioning to his circle of friends that he had read an e-book yesterday was a reason for pride. Now, this will surprise no one. But, despite this, there was a small problem. The problem of choosing a program for reading. I'm not going to talk about Adobe products for reading special e-books. With them, everything is clear. But with reading ordinary (.txt .doc and so on) files, everything is not so simple. You can, of course, read them in the same MS Word or even in Notepad. But those who read them there will soon realize that you can find something more comfortable to read. I'm not an exception. Well, it's inconvenient for me to read electronic text in Notepad or MS Word. Realizing what I needed, I went in search.
And today I will tell you about several convenient programs for reading, which, it seems to me, deserve a certain share of your attention, dear readers.
Programs for reading electronic texts (not books of a special format, but ordinary .txt) are of two main types.
The first type is built on the principle of scrolling text like Notepad.
The second type uses the principle of a classic paper book.
Personally, I prefer the second type. But, as they say, there is no friend for the taste and color, so read the description and choose.
The reader, which uses the principle of scrolling text in its work, has a proud name ICE Book Reader Professional. Recently, a new, fifth version has been released.
The program itself is quite convenient. It supports several text scrolling modes, many file formats, allows you to adjust the size of letters, the level of anti-aliasing, and many other useful functions. The developer's website claims that one of the goals of creating the program is to reduce eye fatigue when reading e-books and gives a rather interesting rationale for the usefulness of the program. There is also a lot more information about the program. In general, the thing is definitely worth it. For her normal operation you need a fairly powerful computer - a 1 GHz processor, a decent video card. The developers claim that it can work with huge files without any problems. If interested, go to their website and read detailed description programs.
Even with the gradual displacement of paper sources of information, the user may also need a book reader for a computer - to familiarize himself with fiction, scientific or technical literature.
And sometimes they are even released in book format.
All these books no longer take up space on the shelves and do not require good lighting for reading, but they can be reproduced only with the help of special programs.
Cool Reader
One of the most common programs for reading both on a computer and on a mobile device is Cool Reader.
She supports both standard formats type. , .txt and .doc, as well as books with .epub and .rtf extensions, as well as web pages.
In addition, the app features include:
- The ability to adjust the brightness of the font or background according to user preferences;
- The function of auto-turning pages, which, however, is not always convenient, since it may take a different time to read even information of the same volume;
- Reading books directly from the archive without the need for unpacking.
ALReader
To work with most e-books, you can use the AlReader application, which works mainly on the Windows OS, but also syncs well for the Linux system.
A huge number of settings set at an acceptable level by default, a lot of supported formats (including FB2 and even ODT) - all this makes the reader popular among many users.
The design of the program resembles a book printed on newsprint.
And as an additional advantage, it is worth noting that AlReader can work even without installation.
Thanks to the cross-platform reader, you can read literature written in most popular formats, as well as easily customize the reading process to your requirements.
The setup process is simple and intuitive, and all book files opened by the application are sorted by their characteristics - genre, author or title.
And for this, there is no need to move e-books to a shared folder - FBReader will create links to their location on the computer.
And among its shortcomings, only one can be mentioned - the lack of a two-page mode.
However, the same problem applies to other readers for this format.
As a result, Adobe constantly releases updates to Reader, which makes it take up quite a lot of space on your computer and take some time to install.
DjVuViwer
Due to the high popularity of the format. such texts are easier to find and download, and they themselves gradually.
This is due to the much better compressibility of the files, so they take up much less space.
There are many readers that reproduce the format - but one of the best is DjVu Viwer.
Among its advantages:
- High speed book opening;
- Scrolling all the pages at once, and not turning them over 2 pieces, as most other programs offer;
- Possibility of convenient and simple creation of bookmarks;
- Opening any files in DJVU and a number of other formats.
Like Adobe Reader, the program is also designed to view books in pdf format, but it takes up much less space. At the same time, Foxit Reader also has a lot of opportunities.
And the menu is in Russian, and in a number of other languages - to select them, it is enough to connect to the Internet and open a file using the reader.
The application works on a Windows PC, but there are workable versions for Linux as well.
In the name of this reader, the word Professional is far from just that. Of all the programs presented in the review, this one is the most multifunctional.
At the same time, it is localized in Russian and distributed by the manufacturer for free.
As part of ICE Book Reader, there are two modules of approximately equal importance - the reader and the library.
And for reading, you can choose one of two modes - either two-page or one-page.
Most often, it is chosen depending on the screen size and user preferences. However, each mode has its own settings.
The advantage and, at the same time, the disadvantage (due to the increase in the space occupied by information) of ICE Book Reader is the download of books to its library in its entirety, not only the creation of links to them.
Thus, the file can be deleted from the main location.
Although in order to still reduce the space that files take up, it is worth adjusting their compression level.
You can pay attention to such features as:
- Remembering personal settings so that the next time you turn on the reader settings are not required again;
- A huge list of supported extensions (including almost all formats, except, perhaps,);
- Opening information from archived files (and, and .zip, and all other archives) without the mediation of archivers, which may not be installed on the PC at all.
It should be noted that ICE Book Reader not only best reader, but also the most customizable.
After spending a little time, you can set up the program for use both outdoors and at night, and even in such a way that reading is less tiring for your eyesight.
A program that does not have a particularly attractive interface, but is easy to use and has many settings.
In addition, it has a multi-tab mode, which allows you to open two, three or more books at the same time.
But the main advantage of the reader is the support for all popular formats for literature, and pdf.
findings
Choosing the best reading program for you can be as personal as comparing various types books (paperback or hardcover, A5 size, larger or smaller).
What’s more, each one has benefits.
Still, ICE Book, AlReader and STDU Viewer are ideal for most tasks.
Thematic video:
The best book reader for PC
Book reader for computer - Review of the best programs
