The Joys of InstaPaper

Ever browse the Web and discover interesting stories that you don’t have time to read? Happens to me all the time. I love to read but don’t always have time for it when I find those interesting articles.  And some are just exceedingly long and, to be honest, I don’t like reading long articles at my computer…although I’ve done it from time to time. Sound familiar?

Enter InstaPaper. This excellent Web site will save those long articles for you so you can read them later. After you join (free, of course), there is a “Read Later” button that you just drag up to the tool bar on your browser and it is installed. When you find an article you wish to read later, just click your button and it is saved for you.  Just keep clicking that button whenever you want and the stories will be added to your list.

When you are ready, go to the InstaPaper Web site to see your list. Click the “Unread” link on their site and your list pops right up.  Click on an article you want to read, and away you go. You can read the original article on the Web site, or just click the text only button to see it without all the other stuff on the web page.

But wait, there’s more. As I mentioned above, I don’t like reading long articles on my computer…I would much rather read it on my Kindle.  Much, much easier to read and I can do it anywhere, including out by the pool or in bed. With InstaPaper, I can do this. 

There is a button for the Kindle (and for other e-readers that use the EPub format). Just click it and your saved articles are downloaded to the electronic reader software on your computer (such as “Kindle for the PC”, or my favorite, “Calibre”). From that point, I just connect my Kindle to my computer via a USB cable and Calibre loads it on to my Kindle. Works like a charm. You can also load these articles on to your iPad, iPhone, Nook or any other e-reader.  And, happily, everything described here is FREE (except for the e-readers, of course).

Another feature of InstaPaper is they have a list of suggested articles on their Website that you might find interesting and you can grab those just as easily. For additional suggested articles that can also be saved to InstaPaper, checkout Longform.org.  Happy reading!!