Spotted on CNET, Ray Kurzweil tries to build a better e-reader. His latest project, Blio, is an effort to improve the emerging electronic book field with software that turns e-books into more than just a digital copy of the print edition. Blio, which is due out next month, is software that...
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Back in March of 2006, I contacted the author of an economics book that I was interested in reading. This was part of a personal campaign to encourage authors to produce audio editions of their books, blogged here.  The author graciously responded, offering to bring the subject up with his publisher. I have heard...
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One of my favorite new authors is Joe Abercrombie. A few year ago, he published The First Law trilogy, a dark fantasy series, followed recently by Best Served Cold, a novel set I’m the First Law world. I picked up the first nook in the trilogy a few years ago in paperback and was...
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The new iPhone update has moved the audio book playback speed controls. In the earlier versions, these controls were hidden away in the Music panel of the Settings App. This was terribly unintuitive as I noted in this post, Variable Speed Playback on the iPhone. Whenever I shared my iPod Touch with my wife,...
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It has been a while since I have posted about my campaign for more unabridged audiobooks. I have not abandoned my quest, but I have not made much progress either. I did hear back this week from one of my favorite new fantasy authors, Joe Abercrombie, about the bogged down negotiations for the audio...
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As you probably heard, this week Apple released its new Shiffie.  The key new accessibility feature is VoiceOver. Introducing VoiceOver. Musically speaking, the new iPod shuffle is brilliant, thanks to an exciting new feature called VoiceOver. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a...
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I read a lot. I always have. But as my eyesight has deteriorated, I have had to find alternative ways to get my fix. Audiobooks have been key, mostly bought from Audible.com in recent years. Lately, smartphones and dedicated e-book readers have begun to offer an accessible alternative. There is still a big trade-off...
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I read a lot. I always have. But as my eyesight has deteriorated, I have had to find alternative ways to get my fix. Audiobooks have been key, mostly bought from Audible.com in recent years. Lately, smartphones and dedicated e-book readers have begun to offer an accessible alternative. There is still a big trade-off...
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The NY Times, along with every other news source, is reporting on the new version of Amazon’s e-book reader, the Kindle.Buried among all the other changes is one important accessibility feature: text-to-speech. According to the Times: Giving Voice to the Kindle: The Kindle 2 also has text-to-speech built in. “Any book, blog, magazine or personal...
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As you can read in earlier posts, here and here, I have been waging a one-person campaign to see more unabridged audiobooks on Audible.com. I had a first success with Ron Rosenbaum’s Explaining Hitler. Just a few weeks ago, I saw that Doris Kearns Goodwin had released the unabridged version of Team of Rivals...
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Here is a nice review of iPods, other digital music players and related software from an accessible perspective: Portable Player Portal Main Page. I am interested in Rockbox, which has a voice-based interface, but it does not allow for Audible.com playback. If you find this post useful or interesting, please consider buying me a cup...
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I have to second this opinion: Medialoper » That’s What I Like: Audible.com. Listening to audiobooks while working out gives me the opportunity and discipline to listen to those long books that can’t be listened to while going to sleep. I recently made it through Jenkins’ biography of Churchill and now...
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I have had my first success with my grass root campaign for more unabridged audio. I received an email this week from Ron Rosenbaum, the author of Explaining Hitler. I read this book a few years ago on cassette, but could not find it on Audible.com. I emailed Mr. Rosenbaum, who was kind enough...
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Here is a great site about audiobooks, Aldo on Audiobooks « Aldo on Audiobooks. It is worth a look. If you find this post useful or interesting, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.
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I have heard back from one more publisher in my mini-crusade for more digital unabridged audiobooks. ________________________________________ From: @tantor.com Date: Mar 27, 2006 11:49 AM Subject: Re: Releasing more unabridged books on Audible.com Thank you for your interest in Tantor Media. I am thrilled to hear you have enjoying our selection of titles. We are in the process of...
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