Ask HN: Is an in-page speed reader useful?

Posted by jvbotelho 1 day ago

A friend suggested I embed an RSVP reader in my blog posts, so I did a floating button in the corner of the page. It uses the Spritz heuristic for the focus letter (letter 1 for short words, up to letter 4 for long ones) but maps back through punctuation, and the timing isn't uniform either. I don't want to bury this post in technical detail, so if you're curious about any of it, just ask and I'm happy to share.

But I'm not really used to speed readers, so I don't know if it's actually useful. What do you think?

And about browser extensions? does a per-site reader still make sense when an extension works everywhere, in theory?

It's on my blog (glitchedcat.com) on any post the lightning bolt button in the corner.

Comments

Comment by treetalker 9 hours ago

Good writing enables the reader to assess, skim, understand, and work with the text as fast as possible. If you want to enable your audience to read quickly, learn to write better.

(A general statement; not directed at you personally.)

Comment by al_borland 1 day ago

I've tried them. It always seemed like more of a gimmick to me. I read faster, but it's not enjoyable. I think browser extensions make more sense than for a person to expect every site to implement their own version, which may all be slightly different.

These days, I'll just get an AI summary of an article if I don't want to spend time reading the whole thing.

Comment by janrakete 23 hours ago

For me, it's more of a gimmick, too, since I find it tiring in the long run.

Since many words in a text are redundant, I read the text by skipping words anyway, and I'm just as fast that way as I am with a speed reader.