The amazing ebook world (Part 2)
This is Part 2 of yesterday's post.
Any books published before the 1920s are free and public domain. Also, see this guy's fantastic free download library of over 2100 20th century books!
http://www.truly-free.org/
I've saved thousands of dollars and never bought an e-reader like the Kindle. Now I own THOUSANDS of classic and bestselling modern books all on my tiny computer, which I've also uploaded to a storage site called Dropbox that I may access from anywhere to download any one I wish!
I use a tiny netbook computer, the Toshiba NB205, and free software called Mobipocket Reader. Many ebooks out there online are in PDF, HTML, Word Doc, or plain text form, which you may use Mobipocket Creator to convert to Mobipocket/Kindle format. I use it to make my own ebooks.
My netbook is very light, has gotten many compliments for looking cute, and has 9 hours battery life and a protector that stops its hard drive when the computer is shaken. I am typing this comment with my computer sitting on my chest while I lie in bed now.
I use a wonderful program called TextAloud that lets my computer read aloud any text on my computer. It can turn my ebooks into MP3 audiobooks that I can carry on my SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 player I just bought for $35. It plays video and audio, is smaller than a credit card and thin as a pencil, has FM radio with 40 preset stations, 24 hrs rechargeable battery life, microphone to record lectures, memory microSD expansion slot, 4 GB (1000 songs/12 hrs video/2000 photos), includes earphones, and can DISPLAY EBOOKS! (This program "eBook to Images" will convert Text, HTML, PDF, and LIT ebooks to pictures that I may view on this video MP3 player!) I'll wear it on my arm while I jog.
On my Facebook, I've also posted tons of links to sites where you may download FREE novels and other books (fiction and nonfiction). If you've never tried ebooks, you're missing a huge treasure trove out there.
The ebook universe is confusing, and there are a ton of ebook formats out there, which people call the "tower of eBabel." But you can find lots of software that converts between formats. The big problem and controversy in ebook land is DRM (digital rights management) protection, which publishers and Amazon have put on ebooks to prevent piracy. The problem is DRM also blocks legitimate book buyers from transferring their purchased ebooks to other devices and keeps them locked into one e-reader, one format, etc.
The best blog on the ebook business is Teleread (http://www.teleread.org/), which I check regularly and which covers lots of this stuff.
Here's my post on Teleread about converting your ebooks to MP3 audiobooks:
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/05/convert-your-ebooks-to-mp3/
Hope this has been useful. Please let me know what you think and if you have tried ebooks yourself. What has your experience been so far?
If you've never tried ebooks, please reconsider. You are missing a huge world out there.
Any books published before the 1920s are free and public domain. Also, see this guy's fantastic free download library of over 2100 20th century books!
http://www.truly-free.org/
I've saved thousands of dollars and never bought an e-reader like the Kindle. Now I own THOUSANDS of classic and bestselling modern books all on my tiny computer, which I've also uploaded to a storage site called Dropbox that I may access from anywhere to download any one I wish!
I use a tiny netbook computer, the Toshiba NB205, and free software called Mobipocket Reader. Many ebooks out there online are in PDF, HTML, Word Doc, or plain text form, which you may use Mobipocket Creator to convert to Mobipocket/Kindle format. I use it to make my own ebooks.
My netbook is very light, has gotten many compliments for looking cute, and has 9 hours battery life and a protector that stops its hard drive when the computer is shaken. I am typing this comment with my computer sitting on my chest while I lie in bed now.
I use a wonderful program called TextAloud that lets my computer read aloud any text on my computer. It can turn my ebooks into MP3 audiobooks that I can carry on my SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB Video MP3 player I just bought for $35. It plays video and audio, is smaller than a credit card and thin as a pencil, has FM radio with 40 preset stations, 24 hrs rechargeable battery life, microphone to record lectures, memory microSD expansion slot, 4 GB (1000 songs/12 hrs video/2000 photos), includes earphones, and can DISPLAY EBOOKS! (This program "eBook to Images" will convert Text, HTML, PDF, and LIT ebooks to pictures that I may view on this video MP3 player!) I'll wear it on my arm while I jog.
On my Facebook, I've also posted tons of links to sites where you may download FREE novels and other books (fiction and nonfiction). If you've never tried ebooks, you're missing a huge treasure trove out there.
The ebook universe is confusing, and there are a ton of ebook formats out there, which people call the "tower of eBabel." But you can find lots of software that converts between formats. The big problem and controversy in ebook land is DRM (digital rights management) protection, which publishers and Amazon have put on ebooks to prevent piracy. The problem is DRM also blocks legitimate book buyers from transferring their purchased ebooks to other devices and keeps them locked into one e-reader, one format, etc.
The best blog on the ebook business is Teleread (http://www.teleread.org/), which I check regularly and which covers lots of this stuff.
Here's my post on Teleread about converting your ebooks to MP3 audiobooks:
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/05/convert-your-ebooks-to-mp3/
Hope this has been useful. Please let me know what you think and if you have tried ebooks yourself. What has your experience been so far?
If you've never tried ebooks, please reconsider. You are missing a huge world out there.