I recently bought myself an iPod Touch. First, I wanted an iPod with a more storage. Second, I wanted a smaller wifi device (smaller than my laptop) for web connection and email while I’m on the move. Third, I want a better phone, and would like an iPhone, but stumping up the cash for both the phone and the contract seems a bit steep. I got the touch to test out the idea of the iPhone, and if I like it I’ll maybe get an iPhone later in the year.<\/p>\n
The Touch, by the way, is pretty cool. I keep finding new things on it that are really useful. A main thing is the seamless integration with iCal, which I use for calendar stuff. And lots more I won’t go into now.<\/p>\n
I thought I’d use it as a book reader too. If I can get new releases cheaper, and I don’t have to carry the damn things around with me on multiple airline journeys, I’d be a lot happier. Also, I’d like to read through my own fiction writing on the go, rather than having to print it or scroll through it on my laptop.<\/p>\n
My first plan was just to read html or text formats with the Safari browser. I knew I could get public domain books from Project Gutenberg<\/a> so surfed on over. I wanted science fiction, so picked a The Time Machine by H. G. Wells.<\/p>\n After four chapters I found that scrolling down a huge page on a browser wasn’t the way to go. I needed to be able to flip pages.<\/p>\n So I went to the App Store and downloaded two free ebook readers. One was eReader, but that seemed strongly tied to an ebook store, and transferring files looked tricky. <\/p>\n The second was Stanza. I opened it for the first time on the Touch and it said “The Time Machine. Wells, Herbert George.” I was confused for a split second, thinking “Wait, I’ve not even tried to transfer the file across yet! The iPod Touch is just the best device EVER!”<\/p>\n Then my brain caught up and I realised the novel I wanted to read as a test of the Touch as a book reader was the exact same novel that Stanza provides to let people use the Touch as a book reader. The reasoning is the same, of course; a classic short novel in the public domain. It’s just one of those small coincidences that make life so interesting.<\/p>\n Stanza seems to have all the features I want, with direct access between the Touch and my Macbook via wifi for transferring text files. Maybe I won’t need a kindle afterall.<\/p>\n EDIT: Four hours before I began looking for ebook readers for the iPod Touch, Amazon released an app that lets you view kindle content. Another coincidence, and a product I’ll look at later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently bought myself an iPod Touch. First, I wanted an iPod with a more storage. Second, I wanted a smaller wifi device (smaller than my laptop) for web connection and email while I’m on the move. Third, I want … Continue reading