# Can an Ipod be used to read a book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422 "2008-01-13T23:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/1 "2008-01-13T23:19:46Z")
Is there any way to use an Ipod like a digital book reader, like the Sony Reader or the Amazon Kindle? ---
**Author:** ![ForumBot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee59a6/32.png) [@ForumBot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForumBot)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/2 "2008-01-13T23:23:37Z")
Yep. > **[iPod Notes Reader: Display Websites, PDF files or Office Documents on iPods...](https://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/08/ipod-notes-reader-display-websites-pdf.html)** > > An iPod is not just for playing music, photographs or videos . You can use the secret iPod Note reader (Extras \> Notes on iPod) like any oth... ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/3 "2008-01-13T23:35:55Z")
The above method is probably the best but is a little time consuming and can’t display pictures. The other way which will work with pictures is to convert the pdf pages into jpg files that the ipod can display, but you will have resolution issues as the ipod can’t zoom and is also very time consuming. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/4 "2008-01-13T23:59:29Z")
Jerry Pournelle has said that if the iPhone could handle PDFs it’d be the perfect ebook reader. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/5 "2008-01-14T00:23:28Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Jerry Pournelle has said that if the iPhone could handle PDFs it’d be the perfect ebook reader. [/QUOTE] Well, then it _is_ the perfect ebook reader, since it handles PDFs just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/6 "2008-01-14T00:44:51Z")
[QUOTE=Absolute] Well, then it _is_ the perfect ebook reader, since it handles PDFs just fine. [/QUOTE] Can you download them and view them on an unhacked iPhone? ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/7 "2008-01-14T00:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Can you download them and view them on an unhacked iPhone? [/QUOTE] Yes. It’s not a hidden feature or anything - it’s been well-known functionality since before the launch. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-ipod-be-used-to-read-a-book/433422/8 "2008-01-14T14:49:45Z")
Thanks for the info. I haven’t tried it yet with a pdf file but I tried it with a Microsoft Word document. It doesn’t seem to work. I then copied the text into a Textedit file and it worked, except that the file began with a bunch of coding stuff.