Since I was a kid, I’ve been looking for the perfect way to read in bed. The ideal position would involve no sustained muscle effort, so I could just let my eyes drift shut as I read, without the book falling shut or my hand slipping or anything. One way is to sit up against something and hold the book on your lap, but that’s not great for falling asleep. So I usually end up reading on my side.
The problem is, you have to hold the book to see both pages, and in either case, you’re using some muscles to hold it where it is.
This has worked for most of my life, but it’s still not that ultimate relaxation.
However, I recently got a Kindle. I was intending to use it mainly as a mobile web browser, but I’ve surprised myself by using it to read an awful lot. And, with apologies to all the bibliophiles out there, I find the ergonomics better than a paperback. When snacking and reading, I can lay it flat on a table without the use of a book weight to hold it opened, and when lying in bed, I don’t have to keep moving it to read.
But it’s not perfect. There’s no way to hold it with a finger on the ‘next page’ buttons that doesn’t require a few muscles to hold it upright:
Either I work to hold my hand off the bed, or I awkwardly curl my fingers around it. Either way, it tips over if I relax my arm, even if it’s leaning against a pillow, and I’m startled awake by this:
I started to wonder if I could do even better. I got out of bed one night, went to the closet, and got a steel coat hanger and some pliers. After a few minutes of twisting, I created this:
First of all, it holds the Kindle upright …
And second, it lets me lie there motionless, and turn the pages with just a tiny twitch of my thumb:
Finally, after decades of reading in bed, I have reached that stage of perfect relaxation.
xkcd 
good idea…
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You could sell these contraptions for $59 a pop in the Apple Store.
I think the best would be to put the Kindle on an arm that can swivel over your head. That way, you can read while looking straight up, your head resting on the pillow. To turn the pages, you could hire an mturker to perform 1000 page-turns/dollar.
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My brother once came up with the paperback solution: they need to start printing each page twice, once on the left and once on the right so you can read it lying on either side. Damn the trees!
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Patent this immediately. I want one.
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Randall, you have the same hand freckles as me exactly. You’re not me from the future, are you?
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My question is, why not just get an eBookWise eBook Reader? It’s the same old model used in the Rocket eBooks, etc.
Now, admittedly, you can’t do any super jazzy stuff like listen to music or take photos or stop an alien attack by hacking into their signal with it, but you *can* do something very important with it that seems to be beyond the reach of the Kindle, Sony Reader, and all the other modern options…
You can *read books with it*.
Like, easily. And comfortably! The buttons for forward and back are placed so no matter how you hold it you’ll have easy access with one hand, and the battery life lasts ages. Oh, and it has a backlight, which is wonderful for places where a room light is inconvenient (or not available, such as power failures late at night).
Add to all this that it costs so much less… I seriously don’t get why more people don’t use them. The only answer I’ve been able to come up with is that people don’t actually *want* to read books, they just want a cool gadget to show off with.
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Man, I had *exactly* the same problem. That first pic is what I see each night, with the uncomfortable pinky effort included. I never felt so identified with anything on a blog before, that’s why I’m writting the comment.
Anyway, I’ll consider buying that Kindle thing or smth similar.
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Richard … I don’t know where to start, except to imagine you simply haven’t used one of the e-ink devices. You’re talking arrant rubbish, mate.
As for the improvised book stand, nice one. Thought of doing that myself, but I got a cheap mobile phone stand, really just a piece of shaped plastic. It’s great for reading over breakfast, or standing the reader next to my desk when I’m writing and I feel like taking a break.
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You are and forever will be my hero. Not for the Kindle, not for the stand, but for the little, perfect, page-turner bit of the stand.
By the way, another solution to the book-propping problem is being read to. Falling asleep while being told a story is a delightful luxury that too many grownups miss out on. And no, the Kindle read-aloud function is not the same thing. 🙂
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If writing xkcd is heroic, then solving this problem is damn near godlike.
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That’s it. This has sold me on the Kindle. Think about the implications here!
Mankind has been dealing with neck cramps and tiring arms to read stuff SINCE THE BEGINNING OF WRITING (and reading). It’s finally over. After 6,000 long years of civilization, reading pains are finally vanquished.
*cue the Enterprise theme song*
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That first picture is awfully familiar to me… Another thing I usually try is to turn around constantly to keep position A (one of the sides of the book resting flat on the bed). I’m also considering a Kindle but… is it actually that good? Can you forget you are reading a screen the way you forget about paper and get absorbed by a book? Seriously, I haven’t tried any eBook reader yet, but this thought keeps holding me back.
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What if Kindle had a camera and could recognize facial gestures?
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Face_20based_20presence_20sensor_2c_20Auto-brightness_20and_20tilt_20for_20laptop_20screen_20_26_20_20more!!#1239436455
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What if Kindle had a camera and could recognize facial gestures?
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Face_20based_20presence_20sensor_2c_20Auto-brightness_20and_20tilt_20for_20laptop_20screen_20_26_20_20more!!#1239436455
If the above link does not work try this:
http://tagz.in/l/8bu/
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You should start selling these on eBay, you’ll make some serious cash. Buy coathangers for 50 cents and sell them for 20$…
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simply amazing, definitely patent that shit. This also has been a lifelong problem for me too. You have officially solved it.
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Prefacing eveything with “e” nowadays is a bit redundant (eRedundant) and eDiculous.
eBook eReader?
the problem was solved years ago, “mate”, with the advent of coil binding. No need for paperweights to hold the book open, no need to prop it open with a thumb/pinky combo while you read the left side, no more creasing the spine of the paperback bending the pages back.
Coil binding. But, good louck finding standard fiction published with a coil. It’s kinda hard to print the title/author combo on the spine. 😉
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In response to Richard re: eBookwise reader vs. Kindle.
eInk makes all the difference. I’ve read ebooks on dozens of different devices for a decade now. Kindle offers me the best eBook experience so far. I’m glad that you’re happy with your reading device, but it’s silly to think that onw size fits all, and that everyone else should follow your example. It has nothing to do with “showing off”; I just want to read, and carry a lot of reading options with me, and download new books instantly, and do it all without a lot of fuss or eye strain or an over-weight backpack.
Now this handy little doo-dad is really nifty. I use a variety of pillows and cushions to prop my arm in a semi-comfortable position for reading in bed, but this seems much more simple.
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An excellent post on a topic, that’s often thought to be too hot to discuss: the apparent unergonomy of a flakes-of-tree-between-boards-of-cowskin -books and the supression of any discussion on the fact by raving bibliophiles. Thanks for taking a bold stand against the hegemony of bibliophiles, for whom literature, text and reading and books (as i described above) primary.
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That’s a nice piece of invention to place the Kindle and read it at ease. See if could patent your idea and who knows what will happen.
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(Weird, I swear I’ve posted this comment earlier, but now I don’t see it anywhere)
Obviously you haven’t heard of Gimble. It’s exactly what you’ve been looking for, only for “analog” books.
http://www.gimbleuk.com/
I’ve had one for a few years, and it’s really great.
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am i in a dream world?
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Hogfather.
Awesome.
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Okay. That is win. Period. I have the same problem when reading for long periods of time, and that totally makes me want a Kindle and a metal coat hanger.
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Unfortunately, I’ll be stuck with uncomfortable reading in bed positions for a while because I can’t seem to find an e-book reader that would allow me to make notes in the text. I’m an english major and I simply can’t read something unless I can annotate it. Does anyone know of a kindle-like object that comes with a stylus so I can scribble notes in the margins? I mean, I could get a tablet PC but that would probably be even worse than a paperback. If someone invents one of these I’d probably end up buying at least two (so I can have more than one book open at a time for when I’m writing papers; most of the stuff I’m reading nowadays is in the public domain, so this would save me quite a bit of money).
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sara, you can annotate a kindle book.
mr. munroe, this is by far the best thing you have ever done. possibly the best thing anyone has ever done.
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This is the best post ever! Especially the last sentence, such a beautiful last sentence.
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Get this patented and sell this for a lot of money.
You’ll be rich in a short time. 😉
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This is absolute, pure win. For the first time, I’m seriously thinking about getting a Kindle.
Also, having the Kindle open to the Hogfather elevates this post beyond win into the realms of the godlike. Kudos, kudos.
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Now if only they were released in Australia…
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Oh, not released in Aus. Just when I was getting excited. Curse you!!! We’re civilised down here, I promise.
That’s right, civilised. With an ‘s’.
Be quiet Firefox.
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I wish Kindle was released in Panama.
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You should sell those things.
More importantly, you get massive points for (a) reading a Pratchett novel, (b) specifically, reading a Discworld novel about Susan, and (c) even more specifically, taking photos of a page featuring Death, WHO TALKS LIKE THIS.
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What’s wrong with the glasses with prisms (or mirrors) like the ones Jack Nicholson had in The Bucket List?
These allow you to lie flat on your back in bed, with your head facing the ceiling and see the book resting on your stomach. Fall asleep and the book simply flops down on your stomach.
http://www.activeforever.com/p-331-prism-glasses.aspx
I think I also saw them at Hammacher Schlemer, but I can’t find it on their site anymore.
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That is awesome.
I must get a kindle, and i must (re)create such an apparatus to hold it.
True perfection.
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Can’t say I understand the notion of reading yourself to sleep, but gratz on the design breakthrough.
I realize I’m a few weeks late, but I didn’t see this discussed elsewhere, so… I never understood what people don’t like about the Matrix Rel*aded and Rev*luti*ns. They were a lot longer than they needed to be, I’ll grant you that, and some of the CGI bits are obvious-bordering-on-distracting now that HDTV’s and Blu-ray players are commonplace. However, I think the writers did a far better job of extending the story than we see in most sequels, and they actually provided an ending rather than just leaving the door open for further cash-ins. Superman III-IV, on the other hand, I can totally understand why Bryan Singer chose to pretend those never happened.
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My primary motivation for getting an ebook reader was this. My Method is much lazeir in some ways – the setup is as follows:
The reader is suspended by string attatched to the roof above my bed. Because of the organisation of the ropes this will hold the book in exactly the right position for when I am lying on my back, or with a simple adjustment, on my side (either side). A small motor is attatched to a claw-like mechanism which will press the page turn button on some sort of signal.
Originally I tried a gesture method (using a webcam and very simple python app doing image processing) – simply shake your head to change page. This was annoying when I wanted to move around. Also the idea of having a webcam trained on my bed seemed a little weird… Instead I used a microphone which was again connected to a little script which monitored for a tongue-clicking noise. I can click my tongue with practically no effort and it has yet to mistake some other sound for a click so I am very happy with the system.
Pictures of course would be appropriate here but I am currently on holiday, so maybe when I get back…
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Kiri is right…if only a Morgan Freeman voice pack were available…
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Wow, awesome invention Randall! I was just struggling with the same problem last night, for hours on end of constant rotating in bed. However, I’m too poor to buy a Kindle. Not too poor, however, to invest in this when it gets patented! Do it :]
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Just do what I do (it’s free), simply pull the page you’re on out of the book and put it on a similar stand. Best way to do this is if you pull a bunch of pages at the start so you don’t have to keep pulling them out while you’re laying down. Put them on a pile beside the stand and just simple flick the page you’re done reading off and put the next one in.
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You see, I could really so with something like that to get through the last Dark Tower book… the writing is so small and the plot so dragged out that even the slightest discomfiture is enough to lose focus. There is no lazy way to read this book without damaging it! Sigh…
@ Terak – YOU PULL PAGES OUT OF BOOKS??????????????????????!!!!!! MURDERER
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I have been searching my *whole* *life* for a good way to read in bed. This even solves the problem of staring up in to a blinding overhead light.
Even if I never use it for anything else, this is an awesome reason to get a Kindle… should I ever be able to afford it.
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Oh, the long, long years I’ve struggled with this problem. I believe this is actually one of the main reasons I stopped reading as much. I kept losing my page when spooling through long fiction paperbacks and dozing off.
You inspire me, Mr. Munroe. Also, props for the Pratchett.
Maybe I will actually get a kindle.
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@Sara
There is, just look up Irex Iliad. It has an integrated Wacom digitizer, bigger screen, higher res than Kindle.
I should finally be getting mine next week. Yes!
My reading device history:
First I read dead tree books, until I found IRC. Than read a lot from the computer screen (19″ turned to face the bed, with some large fonts). Then started printing books with a 6 point font. Kept printing them for some time. Got my first laptop, read stuff on it while rotating the screen 90°. After I got a Nintendo DS, I almost thought it was a perfect solution, read a heck of a lot on it. Got my tablet pc, mostly read graphic novels on it, continued reading on the NDS. Then I got a PocketPC with a 3.5″ screen, which was nice for reading. Read some more on HTC Tytn II (2.8″) which was managabe.
Nowdays I have cramped thumbs from reading on the HTC Touch PRO (2.8″ VGA). Damn thing is just too small and lack a d-pad :(. The screen is nice though, very nice, very-very-very nice.
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Love your device! I tend to read in bed, too . . . on my side. I use a soft pillow to hold the Kindle and just twitch my thumb on the next button. Not ideal but it works. The best thing about reading the Kindle in bed is that when you fall asleep and drop the book . . . you don’t lose your place!
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That is a sweet little contraption. I have to admit that makes idea of an ebook reader is appealing to me. Though they have always been cost prohibitive. Now if you cold only solve the problem of reading in bed for those of us still using old fashioned books I’d be forever in your debt.
Another factor that could weigh heavily into deciding to get a kindle is it’s ability to be concealed in a pocket for secret reading on the john at work. I’ve always been a fan of mass market paperbacks because I can get some reading done at work without looking like a creep heading to the bathroom with a hardcover or trade paperback.
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You realize that the next inevitable evolutionary step is a remote control for the kindle so you can keep your hand anywhere you like, rather than that one particular position. And we can’t stop there, can we? There still all that effort to hold a remote and push a button to consider.
Someone will of course introduce a voice-operated option that will remove the need to you any fingers whatsoever to ‘turn the page’.
And yet…talking or making noise at all may distract from the total relaxation effect we are looking for. A thought-reading device that tapes to a readers forehead will transmit a signal to the kindle to ‘turn the page.’ Still…there’s a thing on your head. Not only will you look stupid but there is a THING on your HEAD.
Naturally, cranial implants will be the next logical step. And why just for turning pages? Why not cranial implants that will control a whole range of devices like ovens and vacuum cleaners? A whole world controlled by the mind…
Obesity and muscular atrophy cases on the rise. Sexual intercourse a thing of the past. Fertility doctors too lazy to work the human incubators.
I predict this device you have created will inevitably lead to the destruction of mankind. You have become death, destroyer of worlds.
Your awesomeness is affirmed.
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I started with the Rocket ebook and now have the iRex.
ePaper is a huge deal, but I do miss the backlight for reading in bed. Tragically, the iRex has a flip-bar instead of paging buttons, but I love your stand contraption.
The iRex screen is really better than the Kindle, but you get lots more functionality from the Kindle2. I hadn’t heard that they opened up the format so much, that’s a big improvement.
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