I was most impressed with both the free ebook sites -Gutenberg and LibriVox. In both sites, titles were easy to find and plenty of information about the book was given. Both stated that downloading ebooks was free and gave instructions on how to do this.
Gutenberg offered titles in an emormous number of languages -including Maori, and the public could choose from a number of categories in which they could receive the book material -audio (human read and computer generated), pictures (still and moving), music, etc. All of this material would be received on a computer. RSS is available for information about the latest additions to the catalogue. Librivox had a very clear Homepage, with one panel asking for volunteers to read books, the other panel informing patrons that they can use an MP3 or ogg vorbis to download material. Librivox offered podcasts and also offered RSS availability.
I can see this would be an extremely useful tool for students who could download texts and not have to cart around heavy books to study, to people who want to use the computer to access books( one step closer to the computer being multipurpose -TV, DVDs, downloading books and music -one screen in the house for many purposes-though with many members of the family wishing to use the screen for different purposes, perhaps a screen in every room!!
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