While scrolling on the Kindle app for mobile, I was asked if you can scroll on the Kindle eReader device as well.
The Kindle Paperwhite does not allow scrolling because it will consume too much battery. Like most e-Ink devices, the Kindle Paperwhite only draws power when the screen changes. And scrolling will need to refresh the screen every time you move up a line, thereby draining the battery very quickly.
My cousin Wilson claims he grew up reading on mobile devices (he didn't). And because of that, he prefers scrolling the screen rather than turning pages. He's baffled why the Kindle Paperwhite cannot scroll.
Here’s why.
Exhibit A. Scrolling option doesn’t exist on Kindle eReaders. And a question about the highlighted text from Benjamin Franklin. Clues are marked in this post with {!}
“A single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours.â€
This is the popular advertisement for the Kindle devices. It can achieve this thanks to advances in e-Ink technology. While on standby, the kindle can display text on the screen with little to no extra power consumption other than the LED lights.
This is very apparent when the Kindle turns to screensaver mode. Here, images are displayed on screen for long periods of time with very little battery drain.
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Only when the screen changes does the kindle draw electricity. And herein lies the problem. Scrolling will require the whole screen to refresh for every line of text that you read. This multiplies the refresh rate by a significant factor.
Take for example reading a full page at font size set to 7 of 14. This gives you at least 12 lines of text per page. If you are to scroll through these 12 lines smoothly, the Kindle will have to refresh at least 12 times more than if you were just turning the page once.
You can see how this will quickly add up and prevent the Kindle from reaching that impressive battery usage.
Aside from that, the e-Ink screen has a quality called “ghostingâ€. These are little traces of text that remain on screen even after turning pages. They usually go away once the device has had a chance to fully refresh the screen. It's part of how the Kindle manages its battery use.
Unless the screen is refreshed constantly, scrolling would heighten ghosting.
As an example, take a look at the experimental browser. From the home screen, tap on the options button and then ‘experimental browser’. Then open a long page such as https://ebookdetectives.com .
Notice what happens to the screen as you scroll down. Not only is it slow, you can see previous lines carry throughout the page.
For these reasons, scrolling isn't likely to appear on e-Ink devices anytime soon.
But are we missing out? By not being able to scroll, are we being deprived of anything? To explore that question, let's take a look at why many people do like scrolling.
Displaying an image with lots of white space.
In the next section, let's discuss why many people prefer turning pages instead.
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Even though we can’t scroll on the Kindle Paperwhite, there are some experiments we can take to replicate some benefits from scrolling.
In order to conserve hand movements and minimize the risk of accidentally turning pages, we can try using external devices.
This video shows one such solution called Kindle Lazy. It will allow you to turn pages and even adjust lighting using a wireless dongle and a USB receiver. It would require jailbraking the Kindle though.
Another example is this remote control project that uses a small robotic arm to simulate a screen tap. (On this note, my cousin Wilson might actually start reading on the Kindle if only to see this robotic arm in action).
Aside from the accessibility benefit, the text to speech or VoiceView feature can automatically turn pages at an adjustable pace.
You can easily adjust the volume, possibly even turn off the sound completely if you don’t need it. And if you have to manually turn pages, you can do so by swiping with two fingers towards the left or right.
Learning the command gestures requires a bit of patience, but once you get the hang of it, it gets quite intuitive. For more details, check the Guide to VoiceView Gestures from Amazon.
Text To Speech has gone a long way, and the voice translation is much more accurate now. However, it still cannot capture emotions the same way that audiobooks do.
As always, if you have a Kindle or eBook question you need investigated, please do not hesitate to drop us a line.
P.S. Here’s the answer to the question in Exhibit A.