Merle

Dear Merle,

I am not aware of any programs that would change MP3 files to text, and I am guessing that there is probably not any direct or easy way to make this conversion. Here is why…

An MP3 file is a type of audio file. It takes sound waves and converts them into a digital file. When the file is read, it is converted back into sound waves and played on your speakers or headphones. If there are words in the sound waves, they are never recorded in the file as actual text, only the sound of the words is recorded.

A text file is a file that has digital codes for each keystroke you type on your computer. The text file does not know what the text sounds like, and it can only display it on your screen as text.

There is software that will take a text file and “read” it to you. This software has been programmed to know what each letter and word sounds like and with modern technology it does a pretty good job of reading text. Microsoft Narrator does a good job of reading text on your computer. YOu can find it in your program files under “Accessories” and then “Ease of Access”.

There is also speech recognition software that will take the words that you speak into a microphone and type what it “hears”. This type of software usually takes some training, and is prone to make mistakes.

At this point, the only sure way to make the conversion you are looking for is to hire a real human to transcribe the MP3 files.

Elizabeth

I am a long standing fan of yours and want to thank you for all the answers in easy to understand language. I have not heard anyone ask this one: How to put music on your MP-3 or iPod.

Thanks, Carolyn

Dear Carolyn,

To put music on your iPod, you need to go to www.apple.com/ipod/start and download iTunes.

Once you have downloaded and then installed iTunes, the program will search your hard drive for music and then show you a list of the songs on your computer. Just put a check mark in the box in front of the songs you want on your iPod, plug in the iPod, and the songs will automatically be transferred to your iPod.

You can also insert a music CD into your computer, iTunes will show you a list of songs on the CD, and again, you put a check mark in front of the songs that you want saved on your computer and then transferred to the iPod.

You can also purchase songs online to be played on your iPod.

To put music on an mp3 player, you have a lot more choices. You can usually drag music files from your computer directly to the mp3 player using “My Computer” or “Windows Explorer”.

If you have Windows Vista, it is very easy to use Windows Media Player to put music on your MP3. Just attach your MP3 player, open Windows Media Player and watch your device appear on the right side of the window. Once your player appears, you can simply drag songs to your player, or click on the “Sync” menu at the top of the window and have Windows Media Player “Shuffle” music from your collection to the player.

Elizabeth