Xan gave me her old iPod Touch earlier this week when she upgraded(thanks, baby!) and I've been toying around with it every night. I already have an iPod that I love and use constantly(a 160GB Classic used to store and play pretty much my entire music collection and for listening to audiobooks on a constant daily basis), so I wanted to find some unique uses for the iPod Touch--with its larger screen and touch controls--so I could justify having it and not just feel really decadent about it.
Well, I've decided to use the Touch more as a PDA or little portable computer than as a music player. I've found a few games and some useful applications that I like, including one called ComicZeal, which allows you to view comics on the iPod.
I've already used a program called CDisplay, a digital comic-reading program for the PC and Mac. With CDisplay loaded on a laptop, one can bring along entire comics series to read on long plane flights or car trips. CDisplay reads .cbr or .cbz files--folders full of jpegs of scanned comic book pages which have been compressed and stored as tiny .rar or .zip files. Once the ".rar" or ".zip" parts of the file names have simply been retyped as ".cbr" or ".cbz," respectively, the compressed files can be read by CDisplay. ComicZeal takes your .cbr and .cbz files and converts them so they can be used on iPhones and the iPod Touch. I have CDisplay files of most of my own work, and I have a huge collection of other series i plan to read on my new iPod now! I'm also thinking about putting together a reference file I can view using ComicZeal while sketching at conventions. I'm often asked to draw characters whose costume details I just can't dredge up from the murky depths of my memory, and a small portable collection of all the major Marvel and DC Comics characters would be very useful!
Number of the Beast #2 on the iPod Touch
--C
4 comments:
Wow, that's really sweet! I'll have to try that with all the golden age comic stuff I have.
I'm really going to try and make it to MID OHIO again this year. Hopefully, you'll see me there.
I got my wife one for Christmas and I actually ended up making wallpapers for it of my own characters (they're on my blog). It's a pretty nice thing to have. I too have the iPod 160 which has all my music. But the iPod touch goes a little bit further.
Hey, I just found out I'm going to Toronto Comic con. Are you taking commission for then?
Hey Chris, just stumbled across your blog. I'm a huge admirer of your work, looking forward to whatever your next project might be.
I'd love to see you back in the DCU proper, love it even more if you were working with me.
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