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Help my blind teen. I'm "mp3 illiterate",audio books,Rockbox, etc.

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soap:
I'm trying to do my best to research the LoC's new digital Talking Books in order to properly determine if Rockbox will work for you, but I'm not finding many specifics on the program.  Do you have a link to some specific details?

EDIT:
Looking at this image I found: 
http://www.loc.gov/nls/businessplan/images/machine.jpg
the books are not on standard SD cards, which makes sense because they are not just for the blind, but also the physically handicapped and thus are ergonomically designed for people with limited dexterity.  I do not believe many would consider the microSD cards used by the Sandisk brand players to be ergonomically suited for these qualifications.

While Rockbox does run on players which support SD cards (IF that is what the LoC is distributing on) I don't believe any of them would be appropriate for your intended use.

So, in summary I feel based on what limited information I found that Rockbox is likely an inappropriate choice for your specific needs. I am willing to work with you to find out otherwise, I just need more info.

EDIT 2:
The more I read the more I think we likely have two needs here.

1 - I don't know who recommended a mp3 player for your daughter, but I'm now 99% sure that no mp3 player will ever be able to play the Library of Congresses digital Talking Books.  Perhaps it was recommended for some different material?  If so getting Rockbox straight from the source, us, is clearly going to be less expensive than getting it from talkingmp3players.com.  (We're free, if a bit cranky at times.) It will just take some dedication (time) on your part to familiarize yourself with the wide number of options. 

2 - It appears that the Library of Congress Digital Talking Books program is designed around dedicated players, and may still only be in the prototype stage.  So IF you decide that the mp3 player recommendation is one you'd like to follow I think you're talking about two devices to buy, not one.

sslawlor:
Dear Soap,
I just sent a e-mail to the LoC's web site. Lets see what they answer.
I will keep in touch and let you know. Who would have thought that this would be so hard to do. Then again it may not BE hard...Just my ignorance.
The Lib.Of Congress claims to have something like a 1/4 million books available for the blind and handicapped that can be downloaded FREE. That is my ultimate goal. To use these free books on  the MP3.
This page is the closest I found with details about their USB cassettes.

http://www.loc.gov/nls/technical/flashdistribution.html

Thank you for your time and answer,

Susan

EDIT : Yes there are two issues here. We already have the new digital machine that is sent by the LoC. It is sent at no charge.
A friend of ours has an I-Pod, and using I tunes downloaded a CD version of a book to her computer and then to the I-Pod. It worked, so since I can not afford a expensive I-Pod, I went looking for another  brand. I JUST found out that an I-Pod IS an MP3. Thus the Sansa and the Rockbox...for the speach....which was reccommended by a web site that deals with the blind and accessibility to technology. Thanks, Susan

saratoga:
Google says LOC DTBs are encrypted and can only be decoded by the hardware distributed by the LOC.  I don't think you need to buy anything.  They should give you the player with the data.  You won't be able to decode it any other way. 

Edit:  Ok then so long as you're aware that LOC DTBs can never be played on an mp3 player. 

soap:
A quick reply, as hopefully you'll see it before logging out:

Ask the LoC directly if there is any DRM (Digital Rights Management) on the 1/4 million books they have available for download.

Also ask them what format the files are in.

Rockbox can not support DRM'd files.  
If we support whatever format they offer, we're likely one of the best solutions to that need.

TexasRockbox:
Hello,

My wife uses the Library Of Congress Digital Talking Book.  The "cartridge" is a USB flash drive formatted FAT32, with an enhanced housing to assist the blind.

Books are downloadable by authorized users.  The book is a standard zip file.

When unzipped, the extracted audio files are of the .3gp extension and other files to help with indexing.

I believe the files use DRM developed by DAISY: http://www.daisy.org/about_us

In any event, the files are not playable on my computer except for an .mp3 and a .3gp file labeled "protected".  I think the LOC player can play standard, non-protected .mp3.  The player is bulky with large buttons and very rugged construction.  While inconvenient, the player is portable and can be recharged.  The built in battery seems to last a *very* long time.

I think the files are playable on computer by a downloaded program from the Library Of Congress and, of course, the LOC player, itself.

The reason why these books are encrypted are because of copyright concerns.  The library is able to provide these books for free because copyright owners have been assured these books (many are recent publications) will not be generally distributed.  The older tape system used a half-speed recorded cassette with a nonstandard head arrangement.

I wish I had better news.

Best regards,

TexasRockbox

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