Has anyone used an Iphone or Ipod touch for recording interview and if so, is this a good idea? I have a mini-disk but don't particularly like using it, plus I can't transfer the data to my home computer as its a Mac.

An advice/insights gratefully received, including on transcription issues flowing form Iphone recordings.

Thanks.

hi kollantai,
what do you mean by mini disk? Sorry i dont understand. I'm also a mac user; for recording interviews I use my cheap Nokia handphone. The files are transferable. I also use a cheap Olympus recorder bought off Argos and the files are also transferable.

I have an ipod touch but I havent bought the external mic yet so I cant tell you about recording on an iPod.
I was planning to buy the earphone with mic so that I could speak on skype on my ipod but I still haven't made the purchase yet.

hope this helps.
satchi

Thanks Satchi,

A mini disk is digital recorder commonly used for recording interviews. It comes with software for transfering to PCs but not Macs. I'm not a technical geek in any sense of the term so my understanding of this kind of equipment is very limited. It sounds like if you are recording on your mobile phone then an the Iphone recording apps shouldn't be a problem.

I used my ipod for recording interviews (before the days of iphone) and it worked fine - although you have to be careful when transferring files to computers that don't have your synced itunes because it asks to format the ipod - therefore removing all files. THis happened to me, luckily I found some software to get them back but it was a few scary moments!

Dragon naturally speaking have brought out a dictation app to go with the voice recorder, but not sure how that would work with an interview - given that you usually 'train' dragon to your speech style. But if it did work would save you hours on transcription!

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/3844992/dragon_naturally_speaking_iphone_app/

Thanks Sneaks. I think this is the way I'll go. Though the Ipod touch I have in mind to use is not mine, its my partners - I shall have to convince him to part with it when I'm in the field :-)