Rapid Reading
Wow. So I just downloaded a Windows demo of the RapidReader speed reading application after reading this article on the Wireless Dev Net and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. It takes normal text and flashes them word by word on your screen for you to read quickly without having to scan the page, etc. The key to this technology is that it uses a similar cadence to someone speaking, so it is surprisingly easy to read at 300-400 words per minute right away. Normally people read around 150 wpm, so this is pretty damn cool.
I tried it on my PC just now and it definitely works, though at 400 wpm it's definitely a bit hard to keep up. The coolest stuff about this tech is that it's available on handhelds like the Palm and Epoc5 (but not the Series 60 Phones just yet). Yeah! I mean, that's seriously useful! If they port it to the little screens on most mobile phones it'll rock! I'm going to try it out later on my old Palm Vx and see if I can read, for example, some ebooks at hyperspeed.
According to the article, one of the uses of the app is web browsing and with your news aggregator. This is a pretty cool idea. Who doesn't suffer from info overload? An app like this would really help. Well, what would REALLY help is actually taking a class in improved reading skills/speed reading so that you stop doing all those bad habits which keep your reading proficiency so low. Things like mouthing words, double reading letters, etc. Make some effort to stop these bad habits and you'll get the benefits of this tech without the software.
I'm going to play with it a bit more and see if I can get through my blog reading tonight in 1/2 time ;-)
-Russ