Filed under: Software, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Letting the iPhone read to you
With apologies to Steve Jobs, who pretty much implied reading was dead, there are more and more applications coming to the iPhone/iPod touch to allow people to do just that -- read books.Today, Traveling Classics has released several public domain titles that you download as applications. A voice reads the book to you while the text stays in sync.
The books are narrated by volunteer readers from the Librivox Project, who record the complete text and release their narration into the public domain. It is a bit like open source for books.
Among the titles are: (click on them for their App Store links)
* Treasure Island
* Art of War
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
* The Tell-Tale Heart
* The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
* The Gospel of John
* Pride and Prejudice
All the books are US $0.99 until February 20th, then they are all $1.99.The Gospel of John is free. I tried two of the books, The Art of War, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both presentations sounded professional. The text did scroll along with the spoken words. You could exit the book, and when re-starting you are given the option to resume where you left off. That worked well. Audio quality was quite good on headphones, and clear enough through the iPhone speaker, but I don't think that is the preferred way to listen.
These books compare with other Audio Books available from the App Store, and are certainly cheaper than the same titles from Audibile.com, the iTunes Store or Amazon. On the other hand, those titles from other sources can be played back through a car audio system with an iPod adapter, or burned to a CD, where with the self contained books from Traveling Classics, you'd have to use the headphone jack to get access to the sound. Also, you can get current books from Audibile.com, but the Traveling Classics are just that -- Classics in the public domain.
There are other versions of almost all these books. There is, for example, a free version of The Art of War on the iTunes store, but it is text only, no narrator.
The Traveling Classics are a nice variation of the standard audio book that people started buying on cassettes years ago, then on CD, and now by downloading them from the Internet. This latest option will appeal to some, but many readers will stick with something they can download and use with other media players.
For those of us who like books, despite what Steve Jobs thinks about the market for them, having more to read, and more ways to read, can only be a good thing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lauren said 10:56AM on 2-13-2009
I'm pretty impressed with the player - easy to use and clean. If you go to travelingclassics.com you can see a demo of how it works, too. The reader for Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is amazing!
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chrism238 said 10:45AM on 2-13-2009
I feel that calling the other source Audi BILE is a little harsh.
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ipod touch owner said 11:04AM on 2-13-2009
"[...] and more ways to read, can only be a good thing."
Ehm, do you actually read a book if its read to you?
This IS excactly what Jobs said: people don't READ any more! At least in the US.
The "read-it-to-me" feauture of Kindle 2 is just a sign for this: reading is boring, so please entertain me. Read it to me.
This is called listening. And the book is an audiobook or sound file.
I personally don't understand what Amazon is thinking with releasing the Kindle only in the US. Here in Europe, people actually read the books they have on their book shelves. Their not only there for illustrative purposes.
A while ago I read a statement by either a spokesperson of the US government or an activist group member, saying that teenagers in the US reaching their 18. birthday, have so far read one to two books in their life!
Two books in 18 years!
And according to Jobs 40% of the americans read one book a year.
This is definitely not a market to invest in.
Thus I can't understand why Amazon is still focusing on the US only with its Kindle. They are missing a market in Europe. A market with perhaps 80 TV stations per country (if at all, for Germany I know about twenty main stations). A market where even younger generations do read a book, also this is decreasing ever more...
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Ilene said 1:12PM on 2-13-2009
"saying that teenagers in the US reaching their 18. birthday, have so far read one to two books in their life!
Two books in 18 years!"
This is not actually true. Schools in the US still require book reports, and parents still care enough to go out and buy their kids books to read outside of school, or take their kids to the library to check books out. This is the case even in the inner cities. Don't let the people who claim to know what their talking about allow you to think so little of the kids in the US. I will tell you however, that kids in the US would MUCH prefer to watch TV, play video games, sports and otherwise be entertained, but I believe all kids would rather be entertained than do something they would relate to being work.
For this project itself, it sounds like something that would be great for kids who have disabilities, or are slow readers for various reasons. This may even be something that will allow those kids to expand their vocabulary, with the proper pronunciation of the words as they read along, where they may otherwise struggle. Most schools, unless you are in the advanced classes, do not push the higher vocabulary that is necessary for the older more classic literature.
Mark said 1:53PM on 2-13-2009
@ ipod touch owner:
You suffer from dead ideas. Reading is NOT simply visually decoding printed text. Blind people can read, right?
Some people are visual learners and do fine with print only. Others are auditory learners and do better with hearing. Comprehension and retention is almost always improved for everyone when BOTH are present.
And your belief that US students only read 1-2 books before age 18? That is so laughable I find it hard to believe anyone would be so gullible to believe it. I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.
Hal said 11:42AM on 2-13-2009
Why not just download the files for free from Librivox?
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hmlong said 4:29PM on 2-13-2009
People just don't know how to translate Steve. He said, "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year."
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hmlong said 2:55PM on 2-13-2009
People just don't know how to translate Steve. He said, "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year."
But turn it around, and 60% read two books or more. There's a market out there...
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Jon said 7:04PM on 2-13-2009
How is it okay for this company to sell audio recordings made by volunteers for a Non-profit website?
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