Blind iPod users

[kestrell]

Anyone remember the old Samsonite luggage commercials where a giant ape beat up the luggage? That's me when it comes to accessible ebook readers. It doesn't seem to matter which one I choose, they all last about two years and then suddenly die. The only exception is the original BookPort that runs on batteries, which is *still* working, but I can't add new books on to it.

Anyway, my ebook reader suddenly died, so I am once more in need of a new ebook reader. I think I want to get another BookSense (it possesses, by far, my favorite TTS), but I know a few people have recommended the iPod, though I can't remember which kind of iPod.

So, fellow blind readers, please tell me about your iPod reading experiences. Is it easier to learn than the laptops? Do you need to install some sort of TTS book reading programs for Bookshare books? What formats can it read? How happy are you with the TTS, and does it have the Alex voice?

Comments

iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Hi.

If you're going to get an iPod, get the newest one, the fifth generation. It does not have Alex, but you can read Bookshare books with Read2Go:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read2go/id425585903?mt=8

Or this program called Voice Dream Reader:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voice-dream-reader-text-to/id496177674?mt=8

I think, if I had to do it over again, I would go for Voice Dream Reader, because you can get more voices for it and read more file types.

There is iBooks:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

Kobo Books:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kobo-books/id301259483?mt=8 the Learning Ally app:

and, of course, the NLS player which they are calling BARD Mobile is supposed to be out in time for the conventions in July.

You can also get NFB Newsline:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nfb-newsline-mobile/id530470425?mt=8

for reading and skimming through NFB Newsline papers--and there's a lot of them, let me tell you! ( I still get them in emails, so I have copies when they are deleted from the app.)

Blio works as well:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blio/id409370678?mt=8

and so does Nook:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nook/id373582546?mt=8

There's also the Learning Ally app:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learning-ally-audio/id418888450?mt=8

And don't forget Audible:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-from-audible/id379693831?mt=8

There is Google Play books, but I don't use it enough to know how well it will work..

There's another DAISY book reader DAISY Worm, I think, but I haven't gotten it, so I an't speak about how well it works. I only know that some people use it.

You can purchase some of these apps ahead of time as long as you have an iTunes account. Then you can set up your iPod to work with that and just load the apps on. You provide login details for apps that need it, and off you go.

I hope this information is helpful.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Wow! That is a pretty impressive list. Thank you for posting all the links, also. I am registered with NFB Newsline, so yes, there are heaps of newspapers and magazines available through that also.

Re: iPods and Books

[talvin]

Some people collect books. My wife collects ways to read them. :P

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

I've had a new-type BookPort, an old-school BookPort (my favorite as far as robustness and charge time--it runs off of AA batteries), and a BookSense, so
yes, I can identify with collecting devices. The Victor Stream sounds kind of clunky as far as design, and I need something with a better speech quality, but I'm not sure I am adventurous enough to go for an iPod, as I haven't figured out my Mac laptop yet.

Re: iPods and Books

[talvin]

One Skype call with Jane could take care of that, I think. She has taught other blind people how to use this stuff.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Yes. I sent you my email in another post, so if you want to Skype that's fine. Just drop me your Skype user name and I will add you. When people try to find me on Skype they get confused.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

I forgot to say this.

If you are a book lover like me, you'll want the biggest model--64GB. I forget how much space is taken up by books compared to apps, but it's a lot!

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Of *course* I always go for the thingie with the most memory! It sounds really great, but I am not sure I can handle the learning curve, as I haven't figured out my Mac Air yet.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Also, if you value your sanity, don't bother downloading the Kindle app. You can register with Kindle. You can even, with difficulty, force it to download all your titles. You can even click on a title and open the book. But you can't read it. YOu can't turn pages. YOu can't even turn VoiceOver off and get it to speak the text in an incredibly slow and boring voice. Amazon is just being ... Amazon is being itself in refusing to allow us basic access to their ebooks, even on iOS devices, not even giving you full access on their so-called Keyboard Kindles.

Mini rant over. For now.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Yes, Amazon is just being kind of insane about the access issue, especially as it means that the Kindle won't be adopted by universities for students anytime in the near future. But there are ways to crack the DRM so you can read the ebooks on other devices.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

If you can email me about how I'd love to know. That would make some things a lot easier. I keep reading about these mythical ethods, but don't know how to do it.

juanitatighan at gmail dot com

spelled out so spammers can't just pick it up.

Also, I can give you tips on working with the MacBook Air, and explain more about touch screens and how they work. Once you get the hang of it ... anyhow, I think it's easy.

Re: iPods and Books

[jesse_the_k]

The mass-market Swiss-army knife for ebooks is Calibre.
http://calibre-ebook.com/
It's open-source, available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS. It's updated monthly, does an amazing amount of things (including cracking the Kindle DRM) and desperately needs a manual.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Another blind person also recommended
removal
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/E-Book/Kindle-DRM-Removal.shtml

but I wasn't able to get it going. What would be nice is if someone wtfm on how to use Calibre from the command line, using Jaws.
Also, my biggest hurdle right now in using the Mac Air is trying to figure out how to load text and html ebook on it with a USB. When I try plugging in a USB, nothing happens, at least as far as I can tell using the TTS.

Re: iPods and Books

[jesse_the_k]

...oh! I'm almost tempted to load up my system with VO, but before I do that....

Many volumes don't "auto open" on mounting. That is, insert USB, operating system shows icon & name, and then sits there. At this point I'd open a new Finder window. The mounted volumes stack in a vertical column in the left (called "the sidebar.") Top volume is boot; others are in chrono order. Your usb should appear then: select and its contents appear in the right 4/5s of the window.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Thank you! I will try that.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

For some reason, your suggestion didn't work for me, but the other person's suggestion to go to the desktop and tab around to find the drive and then use control+o worked very simply.
Does the fact that I am VoiceOver turned on change how the commands you are using work? Or perhaps Lion has slightly different shortcut commands?

I do have a book from Bookshare on the topic of using the command line, but the books never seem to quite mention what I want to do, or they use those icons instead of text so it is difficult to find what I am looking for.
Anyway, I have now succeeded in opening up a HTML format ebook loaded on a USB, so go me! And go you for talking me along, thanks!
One more thing: I know I have asked you this more than once, but what is the name of the cover you recommended for my Mac Air?

Re: iPods and Books

[jesse_the_k]

I'm using Mountain Lion, 10.8. Apple never stops tweaking the Finder. I don't know the default contents of the Sidebar; control which items show up in Finder -> Preferences -> Sidebar.

VO could change the keyboard commands (and that wouuld be REALLY annoying!) Using the command line for file manipulation requires opening up a terminal window:
1. command-space to invoke Spotlight
2. type termi to highlight item with that name
3. return to open it, and you'll hear whatever convoluted command prompt. For example, my default prompt is "Ls-MacBook-Pro:~ ljk$ "
which is a hella lot of characters for every line, and I guess I'd have to find out how to get my mac's name out of it, not to mention my intitials.

YAY! You on opening the HTML file. Did you read it with Safari (default browser) or yet another nifty tool?

Oh, and you do know you could wipe the Mac OS off this box and load Windows or Linux? Still have sleek hardware with not so steep learning curve.

The case I used for four happy years on a Macbook Pro 13 was a Speck, however the user reviews on its home page are fairly harsh, at this link
my summary: not enough roon for the hinge area, frequent cracks

Cases sorta depend on how brutal you are. I managed to never drop the Speck-cased computer. Perhaps this was because the case made it easier to hold, since it had a persistent, though subtle, grippy surface. If I had dropped it, I don't think the case would have saved a cracked screen or prevented the hinge from warping. But that's why I always buy AppleCare for my computers: its $300 well spent if I do clod out and drop it.

Re: iPods and Books

[kestrell]

Thank you for all the juicy information. I'm kind of paranoid about my tech, so they rarely leave the house and usually just sit very carefully on a specific shelf, so they rarely move even in my room. I'm this paranoid because accessible tech companies like to blame the incredibly short lifespan of their products on blind people being too clumsy and careless with products, instead of products having shoddy designs.

I used Safari as the default broswer for reading the HTML format books but, although I could see the table of contents page, when I clicked on links to go to chapters it didn't work, even though the contents page would announce that I had visited that link.

Yes, I thought of wiping and installing Windows, but I would really like to learn the OS so I can use Apple products and get away from Enslavement Scientific. I probably need to just lock myself in my room for a week and focus on solely using the Mac Air.

Re: iPods and Books

[jesse_the_k]

Although the pretty (yet invisible) icons can fool you, don't forget there's a command line (and three scripting languages) in your Mac as well.

So whatever command line tricks people have cooked up for Calibre should also work on the Mac.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Also, to use the command line you have to get to preferences and install the tools in the first place. I think that's crazy. They should just let you install them when you're installing Calibre in the first place.:)

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Your USB drive should just automatically be there. You should hit control-option-shift-d and you will be on the desktop. You then tab around, and you will hear your drive--whatever you called it. You then hit command-o to open the drive to look at contents.

I hope this helps some. i know it seems confusing,but that's how it is supposed to work. If that doesn't work, try a reboot, then plug it in again.

Re: iPods and Books

[diannaamarich]

Hi there.

I have just downloaded the latest version of Calibre. Unfortunately, it's not accessible on the Mac. Again. I don't know what they write it in, but VoiceOver won't read elements. I guess I could get Eric to help me set it up. I just have to decide how important it is to me. It would be nice if they made it accessible--there's a lot of interesting books it would be nice to just read in iBooks.