One week with an iPhone

Posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007

Last Friday I bought an 8 gigabyte iPhone at an Apple store. I’ve been using the phone for a week now, and overall, while there are certainly flaws and omissions, it is a spectacular synthesis of hardware and software excellence. No other handheld device I’ve used even comes close, including the seven previous iPods I’ve […]

The Overlook by Michael Connelly

Posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007

Relic by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Posted on Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, is not a new book. It’s the first in a connected series of novels that features or involves Special Agent Pendergast, and was originally published in 1994. As an audiobook, it was only published on cassette, and has long been out of “print.” This new MP3 CD […]

Recommended: Sonos Digital Music System

Posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007

We bought a Sonos Digital Music System back in September 2006, and I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while. It’s a terrific product that has us listening to music far more regularly than we ever did. What’s more, it works pretty well with audiobooks that we’ve imported into iTunes or purchased from […]

Review: Audiobook Builder 1.0

Posted on Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

Over the course of importing dozens of audiobooks, I’ve used a variety of techniques and different tools to try to improve my workflow and the final product. And in the course of answering hundreds of reader questions, I’ve mentioned and even recommended a few of those tools. This is my first full on software review, […]

The Bloomsday Dead by Adrian McKinty

Posted on Thursday, March 8th, 2007

The Bloomsday Dead, the latest novel by Adrian McKinty, has just been released in audiobook format. This is McKinty’s third novel to feature Michael Forsythe. Michael is a surviver, an angel of destruction, and a lyrical narrator; I intensely enjoy the character. Gerard Doyle has read all four of McKinty’s books, and has a lovely […]

Free today only: Direct Audio Converter (for Windows)

Posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

I haven’t yet used this software myself, but it’s free only for the next 12 or so hours, so I wanted to pass it along quickly. Normally $25, it looks like it might provide a streamlined workflow for importing audiobook CDs or converting existing MP3 files to AAC for better bookmarking capabilities.

Free for 12 more […]

How to digitize cassette tapes

Posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006

It doesn’t provide the level of detail, screenshots, etc. that I would like, and it’s not focused enough on audiobooks, but Lifehacker has an article that outlines a procedure you can use to convert audiobooks on cassette tapes into MP3 tracks you can listen to on your iPod:

Lifehacker: How to Digitize Cassette Tapes

It’s basically as […]

New tool: Audiobook Builder

Posted on Friday, October 27th, 2006

I have not yet given it a try, but a new application for Mac OS X looks like it may be even better than Join Together 5, which I recommended back in July. Audiobook Builder appears to go quite a bit beyond what Join Together is able to do, including the ability merge individual CD […]

Importing audiobooks with iTunes 7

Posted on Thursday, October 12th, 2006

The most popular page on this site is my instructions for How to Import Audio CD audiobooks into iTunes. The process has changed slightly with iTunes 7, and while I’ve been meaning to publish all new instructions, with an improved process and additional details, it just hasn’t happened yet. So, in the meantime, and to […]


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