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Jay Kumar Pradhan

Programme Production, All India Radio

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Bigger Font Size Letters of News Paper & Books For Old.

The font size of letters of News Papers & Books should be bigger and bigger as we grow old. So that when we are old we can read News Papers and Books without using spectacle or lens. The letters size be smaller for children so that they can have less weight of books The vision in childhood is better than old. Though the use of paper will be more in case of bigger font size papers, the same can be compensated by use of less paper in the case books for children. The news papers can charge an extra amount for use of more use of paper for old persons. Though this is easy in computer or internet. But how many can afford computer. Even if any one affords they can not read it if they do not know how to operate computer. It will be a great service to senior citizen and also to children as their weight of school bag will be reduced. Further It will be helpful in diagnosing visual difficulties of any child early without any test.

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    James Zhang 30+

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    Aug 13 2012: Maybe they should make reading glasses that make everything look bigger/clearer lol. To me, it seems like printing separate newspapers for different people is really inefficient.
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      Fritzie Reisner 100+

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      Aug 13 2012: I agree that the idea seems highly inefficient as a general practice, though it is nice that the library has a section of large print books. People of a range of ages and quality of vision read all sorts of things, which would make no single font size optimal for any book. There are small children whose eyes are worse than their parents' or grandparents' eyes.
      That said, making the directions and warnings larger on medicine bottles would be a nice gesture.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 13 2012: As a computer science guy, the worst thing you want to do is make more content. Content should only be made once, the rest of it is form.

        So perhaps the library can have a bunch of those reading glasses for people to borrow. Kind of like how they have 3D glasses in movie theatres.
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          Fritzie Reisner 100+

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          Aug 13 2012: I agree with you that a single font size is adequate. I don't think loaner reading glasses would be a big hit at libraries, but maybe I am wrong.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 13 2012: I guess it really just depends on the market of demand. And you're probably right, the market really isn't high enough to have in libraries. Maybe the library can try to get like 5 of them or something...
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          Jay Kumar Pradhan

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          Aug 13 2012: James Jee, In many countries we do not have libraries. Even if libraries are there in many countries they do not like to go to library.They purchase the news paper or books and read. In our part people purchase and read.Another place they like to read is the tea stalls nearby. After reading they analyse the news and many interesting aspects of a particular news comes out with different comments and arguments. I like this even if I purchase news paper as apart from the news one can hear lot of other news of the area which one can not know if reads it library or home. One can not discuss like that in the library.I also do not like to read in a library where very serious looking old and young people will be reading as if they entered into he book. But when you make even small noise every one will look at you angrily as if you have murdered some one. For libraries does not teaches it destroys your creativity. I am talking about the Tea stall with news paper & some books.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 13 2012: I was just responding to Fritzie's idea with the application in libraries, not anything directly related to libraries, or lack thereof, in India.
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      Jay Kumar Pradhan

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      Aug 13 2012: James Jee & Reisner Jee, We should not be seeing everything through the lens of efficiency and inefficiency.While giving Charity do we think of efficiency and inefficiency. In developed countries these things does not matter. But in India it matters. Its a good idea to print big size letters in medicine for the benefit of patients.Has any country done that.Have you seen the heavy bags of school boys and girls taking to classes in India and lo of country. If the free market economic policy was followed by Govts then we do not have only few big fat people taking all the business.They are creating another Berlin type of wall so that other innovative people can not enter. Bill Gates & other such innovative person are minuscule considering many others like Ford etc.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 13 2012: Well I don't mind making big fonts the new standard. I think it does more good than having too small fonts. But it's hard to cram big letters when the space is small and limited. I guess it depends on which context we're applying it to.

        That's why I say having something like special glasses would be the more efficient, economical, and smarter way of going about this.
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          Jay Kumar Pradhan

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          Aug 13 2012: James Jee, Considering glasses as an alternative is good idea but it can not implemented every where. Then how many types of glasses needed is another problem. As the vision problem are not similar. Reading with glasses of other than specified lens power will damage the eye.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 13 2012: True, everyone's eyes are different, I was just thinking of something similar to that idea, if there was just some kind of device/tool that makes text appear larger than actually are to the user.

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