Filed under: iPod Family
iPod as ebook reader
Have you tried reading ebooks on your 5th generation iPod? All the ingredients are there. The size limit on iPod text notes has increased from 4k to 8k. Apple offers a handy Clipboard-to-Note iPod script that copies text from your computer's clipboard to the notes folder on your iPod. According to reader David Tedesco, if you hit menu when you're in the middle of a note, the next time you open that note it will pick up where you left off. One question still remains. Is the new, larger screen big enough for a comfortable long read? Try it and let us know what you think.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
J.T. Mill said 10:57AM on 11-12-2005
I read a few chapters of The Da Vinci Code on my black and white 4th gen. I think the only real hurdle to get ebooks on here would be the size of the text. I haven't had a very long look at the 5G ipods, but as long as the text wasn't so small you have to squint I say bring on the ebooks!
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iFelix said 10:59AM on 11-12-2005
To me the screen will not only be too small but will also be difficult to read when it comes to large amounts of text. However saves having to carry around another device though.
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Andrea said 1:26PM on 11-12-2005
Do you know of any good software that breaks down text considering the new size limit?
Those "linked notes" pseudo e-books produced by some software are just too awkward since pressing the menu button just goes back one page instead of going back to the index, so I'm looking for a solution that allows me to disable linking
Thanks for your feedback, keep up the good work
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M McClintock said 9:51AM on 11-13-2005
If you don't feel like doing the conversion yourself, you can get free classic ebooks formatted for the iPod at http://manybooks.net -- 11,000+ books from Project Gutenberg, ready to read.
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mike said 6:36PM on 11-13-2005
dude.. audiobook..
i'd bring a real book before staring at the ipod screen for an hour..
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Sami Negm said 1:52AM on 11-14-2005
After reading your entry I was very excited. Size limit on iPod text notes increased from 4k to 8k? That would be great. But on my iPod video the size limit stays at 4 k. Where did you have the information from?
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Philippe D. Radley said 5:44PM on 11-14-2005
Reading on an iPod remains a terrible idea, and not just because of the small screen size. There is the question of navigation: on a Palm or PC you simply push up and down buttons, but on an iPod, you have to use the wheel, which is fine when scrolling through musical selections, but which is awful for turning pages. Just try it with one hand, which is what I use when I read on my Palm. The iPod was not designed for reading, and attempts to cram multiple functions onto a single machine are now getting to absurd levels. And I worry that, should this achieve any popularity at all, writers may start writing short almost square paragraphs just to fit this ill-suited screen. Philippe Radley
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