[New-Poetry] Re: Kindle 2

[David Graham]

I recently got an iPod iTouch.  Have been exploring various ways to  
download free texts.  I'm mostly thinking of having something handy  
when I'm stuck in airports, doctors' waiting rooms, etc.   So I've  
been looking for poetry, and that means (mainly) copyright-free  
classics.  (Kindle does offer some Best American Poetry volumes, I  
note, though they're not free.)

There are a number of applications that are available, including now  
the Amazon/Kindle link-up.  I "purchase" my free book on Amazon, then  
it is wirelessly downloaded to my iTouch automatically.

Aside from Amazon/Kindle, the best application I've found is  
something called Stanza.  The apps are free downloads on the iTouch,  
and then one can search for free stuff.  Stanza's catalog includes  
the Project Gutenberg material, which is full of good things.

Reading any text on the iTouch screen is, of course, not something  
you want to do for long.  At least I don't.  And the interfaces can  
be extremely annoying.  iTouch certainly isn't a Kindle.  But I've  
already downloaded a couple books by Frost as well as an edition of  
Keats plus Leaves of Grass--free--and will probably go hunting up more.

Of course, I didn't buy the iTouch as a book reader.  I use it for  
music, primarily--both my own & the many online radio streams I can  
pick up.  And audio files of poetry:  I hook it up to some portable  
speakers and play a lot of poetry aloud in my classes.

I can check email with it, though sending is laborious on the  
minuscule keyboard.  After that, it's my datebook, my pocket  
calculator, my address book, my pocket Google, my weathermap, etc.   
It's smaller than my old pocket datebook, too.

Another of its advantages is that it's not a phone. . . .






========================================
David Graham
grahamd at ripon.edu

Home Page:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz

Poetry Library:
http://web.mac.com/drjazz/iWeb/Site/DGPoLibrary.html
==========================================




On Mar 5, 2009, at 2:27 PM, TheOldMole wrote:

> And now, coming to an iPhone near you....
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue- 
> email.html?_r=1&8cir&emc=cira1
>
>
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