Ronald's reader rockets into cyberspace
by Noel Towell
If
you've ever thought that the ability to read at rocket speed could blast off
your career or study prospects, then maybe UniSA graduate Simon Ronald can
help launch you on your way. His Rocket Reader speed reading software is
helping all sorts of people overcome information overload – and he was
recently awarded the prestigious Pearcey Prize as South Australia's young
information technology achiever of the year for his efforts.
Rocket Reader lifted off eight years ago. "In 1996 I'd just finished my PhD on artificial intelligence [at UniSA's School of Computer and Information Science] and I'd been interested in speed reading since studying engineering," he says. "So I wrote Rocket Reader and put it on the web. These were the early days of the web and people were very paranoid about buying things online. But it sold."
For the uninitiated, Simon is happy to explain the mechanics. "Speed reading is a term that's better known in the USA," says the entrepreneur. "In Australia it's called reading proficiency. We took common elements of speed reading techniques and developed our own. We can get most people up to 500-800 words per minute with good comprehension.
"Other speed reading teaching programs claim they can get people up to more than 1,000 words per minute but we believe that they can't deliver on those promises so in many ways we are trying to re-define what speed reading is."
Simon believes this common-sense approach is part of the formula that is helping leave the competition light years behind. "In January we got around one million hits on the website. We are the number one speed reading website," he says.
Although the Australian market for the software remains earthbound Rocket Reader's crew of three aim to change all that. "We would like to sell more in Australia but most of our sales are overseas in Canada, Japan, Europe and the UK and the USA which constitutes 85 per cent of our sales," Simon says. "We have seen Australia as a place to refine our selling methods. But we have just appointed a vice president for sales and we are planning to boost our Australian presence."
Simon says that Rocket Reader has cleared the launch pad and is ready to soar. "It's pretty exciting," he says. "Our market is very broad with children, parents, executives, and recreational readers all taking an interest. We have new products in development and interactive learning is getting bigger. Unless we drop the ball, we are going to be a sizeable, noticeable company in the next few years."