Best Bytes: NextGen Save and Read Later Tools
Posted on October 4, 2010 by Amy Chatfield | No Comments
Submitted by Amy Chatfield, USC
Save and Read Later tools have been around for some time. You might be familiar with Delicious (formerly del.ici.ous): save bookmarks into a central site, then access your account and your bookmarks from any computer. After signing up for Digg, “dig” a web page, news story, or video online by clicking the Digg box, and it saves a link to the content in your personal Digg account. All Digg user votes are counted to push popular content to the top of the Digg main page. Facebook‘s “like” section works similarly- if you enjoy a page, video, or news story on the web, click the like button, and publicize this fact on your wall.
The newest generation of these tools have focused on improving the ways in which you may access your content. They save or transfer the content of entire webpages so you can read it when you’re not connected to the World Wide Web (referred to as “the web” throughout this entry). Some tools have started to integrate other types of content, too, permitting you to include emails, tweets, and RSS feeds. The four tools discussed below are all free and provide different types of access and levels of integration with other services. Check out these new tools and get through your reading list anywhere– on the bus, waiting in line, or even on the beach!
InstaPaper is available for PC and Mac and works with Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer (IE) browsers. It works much like Delicious: sign up for an account, install the “Read Later” button onto the toolbar or favorites menu; click “Read Later” to save a page to your account; log back in to InstaPaper from any computer to access your list. The newest extension is for iPhone and iPod Touch users: download a free InstaPaper app and access the full text of all web pages saved in your Instapaper account from your device. The app can also “copy” pages so you can view these when not connected to the web. Most unique is email integration: each Instapaper account is supplied with a unique email address. Forward or send emails to this address and they are converted into “web pages” which can be accessed from the web-based acount or via the iPhone app, just like any other saved content.
ToRead works with Firefox and IE browsers. Signing up for a free account installs a “toread” button onto your browser; when you are on a page you like, click “toread,” and ToRead sends you an email version of the website instantly (many email clients permit you to download emails and read them when not connected to the web). Tomobi is the mobile version of ToRead and can be used to send your ToRead bookmarks to your mobile device (unfortunately, there is no information available about what devices they do or do not support). This will create a text only version of the website you are viewing and send it instantly to your mobile device– no web access is needed to view the page.
ReadItLater is available for PC or Mac, and runs in Firefox, IE, Safari, Chrome, and other browsers. It is also available for the iPhone, iPad, Droid, Blackberry, Kindle, and devices running the Palm Pre, Windows Mobile, and WebOS operating systems. This application also installs a “ReadItLater” icon in your browser, and when clicked, saves pages for later viewing. Special features include the ability to “download,” or save the content exactly as it appeared on the webpage. You can access downloaded pages and other material when not connected to the web. ReadItLater has also released their API code to the public– this permits developers to create new applications which work with ReadItLater. Already, there are apps to help you save other kinds of content to your ReadItLater account, including Twitter tweets, Facebook posts, Google Reader posts, and RSS feeds, and you can expect to see more integrations from other developers as ReadItLater gains popularity.
LaterLoop is a read-it-later tool optimized for mobile devices (iPhones, Blackberries, and Nokias are mentioned, and their FAQ claims that it works with nearly any mobile device). It also works with Firefox and IE browsers. Unfortunately, this is the only tool which does not save items for off-line, non-internet-connected reading (you must have web access on your mobile device to access your pages). However, any page you save with LaterLoop includes photos, hyperlinks, and other features of web pages that some other services automatically remove.
These are just four of the most popular NextGen Save and Read Later tools. If you have used another tool and would like to recommend it to other MLGSCA Link readers, or would like to share how you have used these Save and Read Later tools, please leave a comment.
Posted 10/4/10
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