“Light” reading: pile those newspapers and magazines into your ipod

I consider my iPod to be one of my most valuable productivity tools (particularly when flying.) Thanks to programs that can convert text files into spoken audio (and automatically implant these audio files into iTunes), I can get through tons of reading during normal "dead times". Imagine "reading" the Wall Street Journal as you wait in line to check in, or listening to the Economist as you haul your luggage to the cab/bus/car. Long emails, Word docs, and blog entries can be consumed as you drive to the airport.

Other advantages include the ability to save the weight of all that paper in your carry-on (and save the forests!), and not to have to deal with newspaper page-folding navigation hassles in a cramped seat. My new ipod shuffle (about the size of a pack of gum) can hold hundreds of pages of written text as audio files.

A good audio conversion program for the Mac is iSpeakit. For Windows, ReadPlease.

You might also want to investigate the great business books available at the iTunes Music Store. Many of the better known books and authors are there…