Not sure where to get started determining the best way to have a mobile library.
I travel a lot. I also love to read/listen to various non-fiction subjects. I can't afford the bulk and weight of books in my carry-on luggage. I keep hearing about ebooks and audio books, scribd etc. I DON'T expect services and products at zero cost (I'd rather spend money than time), yet the options for downloading books as mp3s and pdfs seems limited compared to anything I can get at my local public library or Amazon. Even ebook readers sound like a pain-in-the-neck: expensive and not so user friendly.
I am used to seamlessly integrated hardware & software like my Mac Powerbook and imovie. However, audio books that are available at public libraries do not work on ipods. I spend so much time titling CD content. It's like a full-time job! More important than cheap it has to be simple. So, right now I am borrowing the specialty books I want (17th century history, Asian travel, perfumery reference works, etc) and scanning. And scanning. And scanning... Whew, it's a great time-waster! I could read half the book in the time it takes sitting at my desk doing this boring task. I understand that there is a machine that college students use. It flips pages and scans automatically. But I can't afford $3000. My intention is not to scan for publishing/pirating, but only for personal use. But even that is a problem. What the heck am I going to do with all these JPGs and TIFFs other than read them on my monitor? It's very ineffecient to spend so much time titling individual scans. I don't know how to convert to pdf or even how to do this conversion from jpegs to text (OCR?) My plan was to print chapters individually when overseas. Although that would save space it is cumbersome. Is there some simple and good-value solution? Is there a beginner's website educating such people as myself?
I travel a lot. I also love to read/listen to various non-fiction subjects. I can't afford the bulk and weight of books in my carry-on luggage. I keep hearing about ebooks and audio books, scribd etc. I DON'T expect services and products at zero cost (I'd rather spend money than time), yet the options for downloading books as mp3s and pdfs seems limited compared to anything I can get at my local public library or Amazon. Even ebook readers sound like a pain-in-the-neck: expensive and not so user friendly.
I am used to seamlessly integrated hardware & software like my Mac Powerbook and imovie. However, audio books that are available at public libraries do not work on ipods. I spend so much time titling CD content. It's like a full-time job! More important than cheap it has to be simple. So, right now I am borrowing the specialty books I want (17th century history, Asian travel, perfumery reference works, etc) and scanning. And scanning. And scanning... Whew, it's a great time-waster! I could read half the book in the time it takes sitting at my desk doing this boring task. I understand that there is a machine that college students use. It flips pages and scans automatically. But I can't afford $3000. My intention is not to scan for publishing/pirating, but only for personal use. But even that is a problem. What the heck am I going to do with all these JPGs and TIFFs other than read them on my monitor? It's very ineffecient to spend so much time titling individual scans. I don't know how to convert to pdf or even how to do this conversion from jpegs to text (OCR?) My plan was to print chapters individually when overseas. Although that would save space it is cumbersome. Is there some simple and good-value solution? Is there a beginner's website educating such people as myself?