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The problem with Android Tablets and Reading

C

ChicagoBob

Newbie
Its the buttons at the bottom stupid.:mad:

Got my kid a Galaxy Tab 2.0 for Christmas. I started looking at it opened up a book and tried to read it.
The buttons at the bottom are a problem and I find them more annoying every time I try to use the tablet.
Every app I open I grab the tablet from the lower left
or from the lower right or lower left and right and I easily hit the menu or search button or return button.
Cant even enjoy reading a kindle book!
SO is there any way to move or disable or do something to those
buttons so people that are holding a tablet they can stop bouncing around between menus at such?

Why can't applications HIDE or move those buttons to suit there interface?
How about reducing the touch screen area so everything isnt hot?
EVEN worse if you go to grab the top, which is very uncomfortable, you are going to hit the power button and find yourself strugging to get back to where you were.

It makes the entire experience annoying rather than enjoyable.
And isnt reading wathcing a movie etc... supposed to be enjoyable?
Ideas ? New interface options?
Some kind of tweak out there in the droid world?
Designers got any ideas? Bigger bezel maybe?
Bob
 
ChicagoBob,

So just to make it clear in my head, this is not a thread about problems with Android Tablets in general as the title of your thread implies. This is just a problem with your Galaxy Tab 2.0.

Have you tried the other tablets available? Many are even anticipating the announcement of the new Kindle Fire 2 some time soon. I would think if you are looking for a tablet for reading, the Kindle Fire, Kindle, or even the future Kindle Fire would be more appropriate and....much more cheaper.
 
I dunno, I don't seem to mind the bottom buttons. Plus maybe it depends on your reader? When I use Mantano, or EZPDF, the buttons fade and you just get the notification bar and little white dots.
 
The current crop of tablets and phones I have are all Android.
DroidX2, Razr and Samsung phones, Asus Transformer and the Samsung Tab 2.0 tablets.
Trying to hold a 10 inch Transformer for long periods is not good. I dont care whose tablet it is. All of them are kind of heavy at that size. Your hand cant fit around them so you can navigate with one hand while you hold with the other. So 10inch for reading is OUT..
In comparison I have an ITouch with the ONE button in the middle and FIND IT MUCH easier to hold and use, but its tiny and the IPad at 10 inches is too big.

The Tab 2.0 with the buttons at the bottom has no way to stop from hitting them.
Wanting to hold the tablet like a book from the bottom to read is a given.
Holding these tablets from the bottom means fighting with pop up menu's or going back to home or going backwards period.
Its just not a pleasant experience.
My wife, who is computer illeterate, just hands it back to me constantly and now has NO interest in a tablet. I can'y argue with here.
I understand.
My pinky finger is getting a callous from holding my Razr with my pinky supporting the bottom edge of the phone so I DONT hit the button while reading email and navigating with the other hand.

I am on a tear about this because GOOGLE is BIG they need to do better and I know they can do better.

Bob
 
Seems easy enough solution. Don't hold it from the bottom then. Wanting to hold the tablet from the bottom like a book is a given? You're the first person I ever knew who holds books like that. True story. As for how you hold your Razr? Your pinky? Sorry. I honesly can't imagine how you hold your devices. The only way I imagine is it is like the way football/soccer refs hold their red and yellow cards.

Google can't imagine the quirks for each and every person in the world, so they may have not taken your particular book holding quirk into account. I tried it, and honestly I don't feel comfortable in the way I imagine you holding your device. I always held my books when reading in a way that the spine rests on the palm of my hand, that way it causes minimal damage to the book itself. So now that I own a 7 inch tablet, I sort of hold it the same way, with it resting on my palm. like the guy in the bottom picture. Which is also incidentally the proper way of holding a book to minimize damage. So I honestly can't see where the hitting the bottom buttons factor in. Sometimes I hold it by gripping on both of the longer sides, like how you would hold a big book that's closed. Then using my thumbs for navigation.

imgres


However, bottom line is, its not a book, so don't treat it like one. It seems easy enough to see that hey, I can't hold this from the bottom. So I'll hold it from the side then. Or something like that.
 
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