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Comment by treehau5 | Hacker News Reader

This solves the problem I am having with my kindle paperwhite -- difficult to read with one hand, often I hold it at the bottom with my thumb awkwardly sideways across the front to not invade the reading area, with my hand spread out across the back so it doesn't fall out of my hand. It gets tired after a while, so I end up switching hands, until eventually I have to put it down on a table, and then I am reading with my head down, which is also inefficient.

I hope this creates demand for a paperwhite attachment / cover that will achieve this same ergonomic design for those of us that don't feel like forking over that much money after only just buying their paperwhites.

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Yea, looking at this made me realize how uncomfortable my Paperwhite is one-handed. When laying down I usually end up holding it awkwardly with my thumb underneath and my pointer finger straight up the bezel. It's fallen out of my hand too many times to count.

Price aside, this is a worthwhile upgrade simply for the ergonomics.

> It's fallen out of my hand too many times to count.

Glad I'm not the only one :-)

Books are also difficult to read with one hand. I'm not sure if one hand is really important as a spec.

Ridiculous. Books also burn very easily, so apparently flammability should be an important spec of any e-reader.

Not a great analogy. The designed use-case for a book is to be held in your hands and read. Whereas burning is almost never desired, generally only happens if something goes awry.

Given that two-hand holding is the norm for paper books I would say single-hand holding isn't a terribly important spec for an e-reader. Maybe it's desirable for some, maybe not. I would definitely give up a little bit of single-hand holdability for a larger screen, someone in thread above pointed out the 8" Bookeen Cybook Ocean, which at $180 looks like a good Kindle alternative: http://www.bookeen.com/en/cybook-ocean

I think that was the point of the analogy -- to illustrate how silly it is to compare the two based on that. They are different mediums. Books are books, and ebooks are ebooks.

Short of large hardcover books, I can't say I've ever read two-handed. Perhaps I have larger than normal hands. but every book I've ever owned (and most books I've checked out from various libraries) I read one handed.

I object greatly, and think that single handed holding is an extremely important spec. Far more important than some silly touch-screen.

But like books, we are all different. So I hope you enjoy your e-reader however you choose to read it.

> Given that two-hand holding is the norm for paper books

It's not.

Part of the reason I like my kindle -- easier to read in bed or lying down.

One hand is great for me. I can carry my luggage in one hand, read with the other.

What I've found works well for me is to put my Paperwhite into landscape mode and hold it such that the cover folds around on the top.

This then allows me to squeeze part of my hand/fingers between the cover and the Kindle and doesn't get too tiring.

I have a weirder holding scenario, in which I hold it much like I normally would a book, but stick my pinky finger in towards myself and let the weight of the Kindle rest on that.

I often complain about it, and this Oasis appears to be an upgrade, but I have the same problem with books as well. Adding the physical buttons in is a nice feature that I've missed from my earlier Kindles, as it at least means I won't have to move my hand while my Kindle is precariously balanced on the aforementioned finger for every page turn.

http://www.padlette.com/ is awesome for one handed reading.

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