One thing the iPhone has done is give a boost to audiobooks. They are a great way to pass the time while driving, sitting in an airport, or taking a long commute.

Audio Classics [App Store] is a US$0.99 app that contains 6 public domain books professionally read by a narrator. The app runs on both the iPhone and the iPod touch. The books include:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(the original story that inspired the recent movie)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The Time Machine
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Aesop's Fables (141 of them)
A Christmas Carol

The books include illustrations that pop up in context with what is being read. You can also have the phone vibrate when an image is coming up so you don't miss it. The app supports unlimited bookmarks, and an easy return to them. Navigating between chapters and books is simple.

Of course, these books are available in e-readers for free, but the presentation is nice, and you get them read to you. I think the illustrations are fine, but most people listen to these books and don't really want to watch the phone. Otherwise they could get the text-only versions of these books. When there is no illustration on screen, there is a level meter, which is nice but serves no real purpose.

Because of the high quality audio files, this app requires 700 MB of space to install, and after the app is on your device it needs only 350 MB to run. I wouldn't recommend downloading this app over 3G, or even WIFI. Just do an install through iTunes.

I think this is a well done app, and you're getting 6 audio books for less than US$0.20 apiece. Not bad, and a lot of entertainment value if you like the books that are included. When you're done listening to them all, be sure to delete the app and get all that precious space back.

Here are some screen shots:

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.