As a companion handout for my ongoing talks on portable gadgets, I've posted a Guide to Finding and Accessing (Free) Content on the iPad (PDF).
This a summary guide (outline and annotation) to finding content to enjoy on your portable devices (and online, and on a computer) -- and especially sources for free content.
It covers:
- Types of Content - Portable devices can be used to enjoy purchased commercial content (e.g., movies, TV shows, music), free non-commercial content (podcasts), as well as your own personal consent (photos, documents).
- Finding Content - You can access commercial content through online stores (Apple, Google, Amazon) and though apps connected to your subscription services (Netflix, or via Verizon/Comcast TV). Lots of material also is available online through streaming services (Pandora) or a web browser (newspapers, video clips).
- Free Public Domain E-Books and Audiobooks - For readers, there are also wonderful collections of free public domain e-books and audiobooks available online. Some of these are also available through the various online stores.
- Apple Content and Stores - For Apple devices (the iPad, and iPhone, and iPod touch), you can find and organize your content from the Apple stores via a computer (with iTunes software) and then sync to your device(s), or you can search and download directly from your device.
- Finding Content on the iPad - Use the Apple store apps (iTunes store, App store) to search and download from the Apple content collections, including commercial and non-commercial (podcasts). The associated apps for the various media types also typically can display both your local downloaded collection, and all registered content in the cloud to then download.
- Finding Free Content on the iPad - The Apple stores also provide sometimes-limited access to selected free content.