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> In the latter case, speed reading would make the entertainment run out faster.

That is also why I watch all my movies at half speed!

Particularly in the context of academia, speed reading or skimming a large number of texts may be useful for keeping up-to-date in one's field, or for quickly surveying a number of approaches to a problem before investigating those which seem most useful or interesting.

I'm currently (finally!) reading 2001. I was half a page from the end of a chapter when my train was seconds from stopping where I wanted to get off. Thanks to speed reading, I could finish the chapter and put the book down in my bag before leaving the train!

Every other commuter I see seems to solve this problem by reading while they're walking, head down, oblivious to their surroundings.