Yes – the 2.0 software for the iPod Touch allows (finally !) 3rd party software to be installed, making the Touch a more versatile piece of equipment than just a browser and audio/video player. Suddenly it becomes more of a PDA.
I downloaded the Stanza ebook reader to the Touch. It allows downloads of free ebooks from project Gutenberg. I downloaded a few, and got to read one for now. Having watched the “Jekyll” miniseries on DVD I got curious and wanted to (re)read the story giving the inspiration for the series – the short story “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Also I downloaded a few ebooks that come as applications for the Touch. Mike Stackpole has a few there, mostly short stories, but his novel “One a Hero” is there as well.
I have read a bit of those as well.
The small screen of the Touch is not really ideal for the purpose, but if you go travelling and want to travel “light” it is an option for having a set of books with you. It is easy to adjust the font size for relatively comfortable reading. Just don’t expect to read a novel in one go on the iPod Touch.
I quite like reading eBook on my PDA (Palm Tungsten E2) that doesn’t have a huge screen either, but with a small font (and good eyes) you can get a decent amount of text on there at once. Of course I’m a bit weird in that I don’t mind reading from screen at all, while most people seem to object to it at least a little.
For the Palm the combination of Plucker and Gutenberg also works wonders. You can actually download books in Plucker format from the Gutenberg site. It’s not a total solution for everything, but I find that having some 50 odd books in my pocket can be a great benefit when I’m traveling. Especially as I’m the sort of person who’ll generally take at least 3 or 4 books when going away even if it’s just for 2 days. Having them on the PDA saves carrying actual books around the whole time.
Ha, you have an iPod touch as well? Awesome 🙂 I thought I was the only crazy one, no one else I know got one.
I have been using Stanza for a while now and I absolutely LOVE it! I have my concerns about the prize of the desktop application once it’s out of beta and we’ll be charged for it. But apart from the fact that I could download many free classics to read, I can also finally read an amazing Babylon 5 fan fiction The Babylon 5 Parallel Universe Story while riding to work.
I don’t know if you have noticed that you can adjust the size of the font and the font face itself – maybe that will help your reading experience? I think it’s a good substitute for carrying books around.
I have indeed noticed the font size function.
That fanfic looks really interesting, I take it you are reading of the Touch , did you download and convert everything yourself? If so what did you use ? I would be interested in putting other stuff on the Touch as well.
I used the desktop version of Stanza to bring books to the iPod. It’s a little tricky because all the formatting is removed from the files and you need to experiment a little before you get it right.
As an alternative, you can also use AirSharing (look for it in the iTunes App Store). The app allows you to transfer PDF’s (any many other file types) to the iPod touch and read them. Though of course it’s not as comfortable as Stanza.