Reading Books on-screen)-Kindle for PC and Kindle for iPhone and iPod Touch

Yesterday I was attending the Virtual Edge Summit 2010 as a virtual participant using the Virtual Beginnings VirtualU 3D software.  Byron Reeves, one of the keynote speakers, mentioned a book he had co-authored--Total Engagement.

In the summer of 2008, I took five graduate courses from the University of Phoenix Online to qualify for some Illinois state approvals for my teaching certificate.  While working on those graduate courses, I became comfortable reading books on-screen.  All of the articles and textbooks used in these courses were available from the University of Phoenix library or other sources as downloads.  I worked with Adobe Acrobat Pro to highlight and to make annotations to all of the on-screen reading material.

Of course I went to Amazon.com to look for the book and found that it was available in a Kindle edition--for a better price than the hard cover edition.  I remembered my experiences with the reading for the University of Phoenix and looked to see if Kindle was available for the PC.  Amazon has a Kindle App for the PC and, via Apple's iTunes App Store, a Kindle App for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  (Amazon is building a Kindle App for the Mac.)  These Apps are free.  Once the Apps and the machines are registered with Amazon.com, customers can purchase the Kindle editions.  Even better, once the Kindle edition has been purchased, it can be read on both the iPhone/iPod Touch and the PC.  Amazon has built-in some annotation software so that I can make the same kinds of annotations I did using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

I downloaded and registered the Apps and purchased and downloaded the Kindle version of Total Engagement.  I started reading it on my iPod Touch last night.

The Apple iPad is coming and I did some research last year on eBook readers--Kindle, Sony, and BeBook,  a European competitor.  I was horrified to hear about the price of a data package for the iPad being marketed by AT&T.  I enjoy my iPod Touch and could see the iPad as an easier-to-read extension of the iPod Touch.  I don't pay AT&T anything directly for the iPod Touch--it's covered in my AT&T bundle of services for my home computer and mobile devices.

I am delighted to be able to read Kindle books on both my iPod Touch and PC.  I am already working with eAudiobooks from Audible.com (an Amazon company) and from the public library (using NetLibrary).  It's nice to add a new resource for the information I am looking for.

Keeping Current with Communication Technology--Challenging

My friend converted a Microsoft PowerPoint Show from his 2007 Microsoft Office software to a You Tube video using TechSmith's "Camtasia Studio" software.  He had voice over and the You Tube video looks great.

I've been working all day to get a narrated presentation converted from Adobe Presenter or Microsoft PowerPoint to be copied and played effectively using Camtasia or Apple's QuickTime and Microsoft MovieMaker.

After more than a half-day of working at it, I have nothing more than partially completed draft projects.  The challenge at the moment is the audio.  (I have recorded it a few times and want to use what I already have in place rather than recording it again.)

I'll master this soon--and the practice has given me great ideas for the kinds of digital movies I want to create for clients and students.  TechSmith's trial software is full-featured during the 30-day trial period.  That should give me time to understand its value before I invest in the full package.

I had feedback from TechSmith--creators of Camtasia--with a "work around" for the sound.  (Just use a cable with two 3.5mm male connectors between the headphones and the microphone jack, then adjust the playback on the computer and the "mic" on Camtasia to make sure the signal is "mostly green.")

I tried it and have three videos up and running.  I've put two up on YouTube and on TeacherTube (for those who cannot access YouTube from school.)  Go to my web page at http://www.joelmonty.net/profile/profile.htm for links to all of these.

Keeping Current with Technology Changes--Challenges to Communication

Creating web sites to share information becomes a challenge when the software used to post the information changes without notice.  For example, I used Adobe Presenter to share a presentation on my website in May and the software has changed (improved).  The old presentation no longer worked and I needed to recreate it and to post a revised copy on the website--done today (http://www.joelmonty.net/information_links/information_links.htm).

We need to keep revisiting what we have created to make sure that it is still accessible, especially as people are using a variety of web browsers.  As I begin to build more and more presentations, webinars, podcasts, and teleconferences, I will be using all sorts of new technology to make these accessible to as many people as possible.

It is always a challenge to keep things current and active, both in terms of content and in terms of the technology used to access the content.  Books were recorded and became audiobooks.  Audiobooks have been digitized and become eAudiobooks available for download.  Along the way the players and the software keep changing--much more rapidly that the transition of home-based audio from vinyl record to  cassette tape and CD to digital fines available on MP3 players, iPods, computers, etc.

Another dimension is to keep the content interesting with interesting graphics.  "Black and white" are boring.  Oops, I'll have to change the format of this blog pretty soon.