Re: Probably a silly question

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary (actually, it was on Sun, 23 Jul 2006
07:01:18 -0700), while K Barrett Pondered, Weak and Weary:

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"A R Pickett" <WOODeSTOCK_AP@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1uKwg.11331$2v.5668@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
But my grandmother always told me - "If you don't know the answer - - - "

How exactly do Ipods and eBooks work exactly?

There are 2 iPods, one is a harddrive (you can hear and feel it spin inside
the case) the other is a Nano, which I think is more like a memory chip.
Anyway it has no moving parts.

I have the hard drive one, which holds more, but costs more also.
(about $300)

Other people will know of more sources for books in mp3 format. I know of
2. One is Audible.com, the other is iTunes. You buy and download music or
books or TV or movies to your iPod using the iTunes program.

I have not gotten to the point of downloading books yet. I want to see
if I like it first. I've been borrowng books on disc from the library
and copying them to the iPod. The problem with this is that there is a
process to it. The CD's must first be converted to smaller files
(usually mp3's), and you need to store them as audible books. I found
a neat website that describes the process, step by step, so that a
book doesn't use as much space as it could (the spoken word does not
need very high fidelity, so it pays to convert to the smallest file).

There are also the new books on mp3 discs. Instead of, say 12 discs
per book, you can get the whole book on one disc. The problem I found
with these when copying onto iPod was keeping the chapters in the
right order. It can be done, but depending on what the book calls the
individual files, it's another process.

For ease of use, I think buying them from Audible, or downloading them
ready to copy is the way to go. If you are not concerned with having
to deal with the computer processes, try copying the books from disc.
They're free.

The nice thing about Audible is once you buy a book they store it for you.
If you ever have a crash all you have to do is go back and get the book
again. If you crash and lose your iTunes library, then you better have made
a back up of your music,video,etc, else there's no way to get it back again.
Or if you move to a new computer you lose your library. Then iTunes gets
all paranoid, thinking you're 'sharing' when really all you're doing is
moving from one computer to another. Its a real pain in the ***.


Say I was to get an ipod (I still don't have one)

And wanted to get a book to listen to using the Ipod.

I access the net using a dialup connection. would the effort of getting a
320 page newly published hb turn out to be too friggin long a process to
download?

Books are huge files.
I have cable. Download times depend on the size of the file. Audible allows
you to download books in 4 different compressed formats (densities). I once
mede the mistake of downloading a book in the densest format (4) and it took
5-7 minutes (maybe longer). I usually download in format 3, and the
download is 1-2 minutes. At dialup speeds I'll bet it'll take forever, or
you download at night when no one's around. Sorry.


Does an ipod use a standard USB cable?

No, it uses a firewire.

What are the costs involved? Other than the obvious outlay to get an
ipod?

Audible costs $14.95 per month. For that you get one book - any book - and
one periodical - any periodical. They have different plans. I've
downloaded books that normally would cost over $50-$75 for the $14.95 fee.
I've gotten daily newspapers or monthly magazines etc for the 1 periodical.
Now that everyone is podcasting for free, the periodical feature is less
appealing to me. I may change to one of their other plans.

If you use iTunes its just the cost of the book, so you'd pay full pop for
the $50 book (for example).

Of course you are hindered by what's available. Go browse and look and see
what you think. iTunes sorts their material by 1st name only... so if you
are looking for Peter Robinson, you have to look under P. Audible sorts by
author, narrator and by publisher. As far as I can tell both have the same
items. Generally iTunes is a few dollars more, but not always.


Anyone who is currently doing this able to fill me in?

Thanks.


Hope I've helped.
K Barrett

Me too
John P
.

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