# Palm OS question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207 "2005-06-14T13:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@Jimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/1 "2005-06-14T13:22:07Z")
I have a friend who likes to download stuff to his Palm and read it. However, he is not the most technically inclined person and sometimes gets stupid thoughts lodged into his brain and refuses to let them go. He currently uses some priority format that he got the reader for free, but they have few free e-books available (perhaps I should also point out that Ted is cheap). I sent him the link to the [Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/) web site but he claims that Palms cannot read .txt files. I know next to nothing about Palms, but it seems to me that it should be able to read a text file or Hotsync should convert it. (He’s using Palm 4.1 on a Sony, if that helps). At any rate, if anyone could tell me how to put a text file on a Palm, I’d be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/2 "2005-06-14T13:45:12Z")
There are a few ways. For my Project Gutenberg books, I use [iSilo](http://www.isilo.com). The instructions that come with the program should tell you everything you need to know to get the files onto the Palm in the proper format and way. iSilo can also save webpage archives for offline reading, which I find handy for some funny movie review sites I frequent. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/3 "2005-06-14T14:04:29Z")
I read text files in my Palm all the time. I never bothered to find an app to enable this. I just cut-and-paste the text into a Palm memo using the desktop app. The size of a memo is limited, but if you paste too much text, it automatically creates multiple numbered memos which makes it easy to keep track of how much you’ve read. I guess it’s not very slick to cut-and-paste the text rather than just loading the TXT file directly, but since I read very large documents, I don’t end up doing this very often and it was never enough trouble to bother finding another way. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/4 "2005-06-14T14:20:52Z")
There are any number of freeware document and text file readers/editors for the PalmOS platform links to a good selection of them may be found [here](http://freewarepalm.com/docs/docs.shtml). ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/5 "2005-06-14T15:00:54Z")
The fundamental problem is the PalmOS doesn’t have _files_ - it has databases. So a text file needs to be converted in order to be read on the Palm. I’m currently reading _Origin of Species_ on my Palm, using the Mobipocket reader, and I’m very happy with it. [www.mobipocket.com](http://www.mobipocket.com) . They sell e-books, but the program comes with a converter that easily converts Project Gutenberg (or any text) files to PalmOS databases that it can handle, and the reader is free. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/6 "2005-06-14T22:53:40Z")
That’s true of documents stored in the Palm’s internal memory, however, a lot of applications are quite happy to handle discrete files (often of standard types such as txt, jpeg, wav etc) on the expansion card (if the device is equipped with one). ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/palm-os-question/308207/7 "2005-06-15T07:11:14Z")
> [@Jimpy](#): > > He currently uses some priority format that he got the reader for free, I’m assuming you mean “pro·pri·e·tar·y” Of, relating to, or suggestive of a proprietor or to proprietors as a group: had proprietary rights; behaved with a proprietary air in his friend’s house. Exclusively owned; private: a proprietary hospital. Owned by a private individual or corporation under a trademark or patent: a proprietary drug. A priority is typically "Precedence, especially established by order of importance or urgency. " I hate to nit pick, but I hate neglecting fixable problems even more.