Tested with a macbook pro and a mac mini server, each sharing the iTunes library to a first generation iPad.
Requires:
- shared local wifi connection
- ios 4.3 device
- iTunes 10.2 or greater on a Mac or PC
- An AppleID
A. Enable Home Sharing in iTunes on primary iTunes machine(s)
-- In iTunes menu .. Advanced->Turn on home sharing.. enter AppleID when prompted
B. Tap into the Home Sharing from the iPad
-- Settings->iPod->Home Sharing.. enter the identical AppleID used on the Home Sharing machine when prompted
C. In the iPod app on the iPad
-- Tap the "Library" icon in the list of available media. A "Home Sharing" panel appears which allows switching from "My iPad" to any listed shared libraries.
Shared libraries automatically appear to iOS 4.3 devices when they are on the same wireless network, using the same AppleID credentials. The network setup is zero config for the user in other words.
In Pictures:
iPad Favs folder listing from library "My iPad", listing is from last sync, not from sharing.
Select a different shared library. Share names are based upon user login names for machine in question. "Doug Brethower" on macbook pro, "dougbrethower" on mac mini server.
Note in this case, a couple of music videos are now available in the iTunes share, that were not available from iPad syncing. Ritchie Blackmore's "Man on the Silver Mountain" and Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs"
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ritchie-blackmores-rainbow/id404206
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bridge-of-sighs/id263386585
PDF files, the Portable Document Format is a standard way to communicate electronically across platforms. The advantage is that documents render visibly the same on Windows, Apple, Linux and unix operating systems, with no additional software required. That makes the PDF format ideal for email communications, and document storage.
Creating PDF Files
In Mac OS X, creating a PDF is easy. From any application with print functionality, print to PDF is a button click that selects PDF format rather than sending the job to the printer.
PDF Print in OS X
Then the pdf file can be emailed as an attachment or stored for future reference.
iTunes
PDF capability is a well hidden feature in the latest releases of iTunes.
When e-Books became available for sale in the iTunes store, pdf storage came along for the ride. iTunes is a dead simple way to store and distribute pdf documents, especially onto mobile devices.
1. Print your content to PDF. I just re-discovered some excellent content by Martin Bauer. I might have even printed some of this stuff back in the day. If so, I would not begin to know which rathole of papers it is in. This time I simply Print to PDF, save it on my desktop with descriptive name of "Martin Bauer Content MMT Missing Link"
2. Drag and drop this PDF creation from desktop onto the iTunes icon. If Books was not already a listing in the left pane of the window along with Music, Movies, etc, it now appears.
PDF listing in iTunes Books
3. The file remains on the desktop, delete it, email it, whatever else needs done with it immediately.
4. The PDF file now syncs with iPhones, iPads, mobile devices in accordance with iTunes settings for the device.
PDF book shelf on iPad
5. Also, the PDF file may be restored to anywhere in the file system on demand. Drag and drop it from iTunes to the desired location.
I know how much everybody likes to buy printer ink and finely hammered out dead trees, but when you don't have the time or money, this can make a handy interim solution.
Bonus Feature
An added bonus, is that once in iTunes, the PDF document can be categorized using the same folder structures used to organize music collections. That way a single file can automagically appear in numerous folder locations as needed, without creating multiple copies or shuffling to and fro.
The bookshelf on the iPad starts off looking rather empty, just a "Winnie the Pooh" unless other books were previously downloaded in iTunes.
Stocking the Shelves
Project Gutenberg has about 30,000 titles, most of them free as in price and free as in freedom to use as you see fit. Google Books, at where else but books.google.com is another trove of epub titles.
Download a favorite in ePub format, drop the file on the iTunes icon on the dock. If not there already, a "Books" category will appear in the iTunes library, the book is available on the iPad after the next sync.
Huck Finn from gutenberg.org
Convert PDF to ePub
UPDATE - PDF files are now embraced in their original format within iTunes. No need to convert. Drag and drop any pdf file onto the iTunes icon on the dock. Boom it is in iTunes books folder. From there, rename, create subfolders, do what makes sense for your situation. These PDF docs can sync with mobile iDevices for access to text info on the go. END OF UPDATE
If, like me, you have information in pdf format scattered all over the place, this is a prime opportunity to make them more useful, and stock the shelves of your iPad at the same time. Simply convert the pdf files to epub format using calibre.
Converting pdf to epub is not strictly necessary to use them, just a nice way to flesh out the iBook shelf. Goodreader* will read pdf files and a whole lot more just fine without the need to convert anything to epub.* http://www.goodiware.com/goodreader.html
Print to PDF is standard in OS X, so it is easy to stock iBookshelves with information while saving the trees.
Calibre by Kovid Goyal
Calibre is a free and open source e-book library management application developed by users of e-books for users of e-books. Download it here.. http://calibre-ebook.com/download_osx
Install it and start it.
1. Drag a pdf file from finder and drop it on the calibre icon in the dock. This inserts the file into the calibre library.
-------2. Click the "Convert eBooks" icon at the top, be certain epub is listed as an output format, then clickOK to do the deed.
-------3. Next, select Save to Disk from the toolbar at the top.
The pdf file is saved with the author name serving as the top level folder structure.
Beneath that folder structure is the book name and an .epub file for the book.
Drag the .epub file to a running iTunes instance in the dock. The book appears immediately, with a nice cover page, in the Books library in iTunes. If a Books LIbrary is not already displayed, it is created by the drag and drop of an .epub file.
Just that simple.
iBooks Library - Shelf View
iBooks Library - List View
After much trial and error, finally have a sweet Podcast Producer setup running on the Mini Server.
Distributing Podcasts
Locally in iTunes
Before shot..
During Podcast producer setup, several RSS feeds are presented for entry into the Mail app of the client machine. RSS may be grabbed by user, by workflow, by keyword, custom or history parameters as defaults. By user, or workflow, makes the most sense for local.
To distribute locally, copy the url listing for the feed, something like.. feed://mini3.brethower.net:8171/podcastproducer/atom_feeds/6061889F-0AD4-44A1-A901-EC4E2636CE23
Then in iTunes, main menu, choose "Advanced->Subscribe to podcast.." and enter the copied feed url into the box provided.
------The feed then appears, get the one desired with a double-click..
-----The podcast loads into iTunes on the local machine, double-click the podcast to start it.
youtube
When the files appear in the local feed, control click the attachment files and save the desired resolution to local disk. If you don't know what desired resolution means, just use 360p and you will figure it out as you go with minimum bandwidth usage.
Then login to youtube and upload. Youtube handles the .m4v files created by podcast producer without a wimper.