My father-in-law is a diehard newspaper reader. The Washington Post, specifically. He reads that thing every day from cover to cover and then thoughtfully clips articles to send us that he thinks we will enjoy (i.e. should read).
I, on the other hand, get my amalgamation of news through various channels – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pulse, Google Reader, etc.
I like to pretend that my life is so busy that I simply can’t sit down and read a newspaper. But, with the magic of the aforementioned technology, I try to stay informed.
Just this morning, though, I learned about a technology of superior magical (almost wizard-like) qualities that will make getting the news even easier: it’s called Umano.
NOTE: If you don’t have an iPhone or Android-enabled phone, you should probably stop reading now because you’ll probably just be disappointed that you slogged through this post just to find out that it doesn’t apply to you.
So, Umano. It’s a free app that has professional voice actors reading the daily news to you. It sounded cool to me but then I tried it and was blown away by how much better it was than my Kindle’s robot voice. Umano actually puts the right emphasis on the right syllable!
The quality is so high, it sounds like you’re listening to Jim Dale read the Harry Potter audiobooks. Although I’ve never heard him outside of that YouTube video, I have it on high authority that he takes the series to a whole new level with his interpretations and the fact that he does all the voices!
Whether or not you are into Hogwarts and wizards, Umano is still an amazing app. On the way to work today, I heard this story by The Atlantic, and knew I had found an enjoyable way to hear the news, especially when public radio is airing something I’ve already heard or its fundraising drives.
If you’re like me and you just pretend to be busy, or if you’re actually honest to goodness busy as a beaver, I wholeheartedly recommend Umano.
And, while you’re waiting in line at the airport for your next Untour and you’re fresh out of podcasts, go ahead and give Umano a chance. It just may give you back the extra attention you need to avoid rolling your suitcase into the calves of the person in front of you in line.