CliffsNotes for iPod: Cheat-sheets for a new generation

Those little yellow books have gone digital. CliffsNotes (don't drop the S!) are now available, from Modality, at www.raybook.com.

The product allows students to download entire CliffsNotes study guides (cough, cough) directly onto an iPod at any time. Each guide costs $5.99, and can be installed through Modality's Raybook Manager. The site currently sells 40 guides, including all of those titles that you remember well from your high school days, like The Grapes of Wrath or The Great Gatsby.

The study guides are available for the video iPod, iPod Classic or iPod nano, and also include features such as character maps (stored in the Photos section of the iPod), essays, and review questions. The guides include chapter summaries and essays that "hammer home key plot points, conflicts and character development." Multiple-choice quiz questions are also included for last-minute reviewing.

As a way to entice students, the company is offering a free download of George Orwell's Animal Farm (just click on the 'Demo' icon).

I'm predicting it now – schools (if they haven't already) will begin banning iPods from the classroom to make sure Johnny isn't looking down at his MP3 player when he's giving his book report on Huckleberry Finn.

If you're well beyond your school years, checking out the CliffsNotes might also be a good time-saving way to catch up on books that you had to read during high school, or peruse new books and titles that you never got around to reading.

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