Another look
(listen?) at audio tours available for the iPod and other devices. This one from the
Chicago Trib
covers the same companies who have been out there for a while, notably
Soundwalk.
They give props to the Soundwalk stuff, though offer the caveat that they sometimes try to get you to venture into odd
places in the city. That is, in the New York Chinatown
Soundwalk, for example, the tour guide “Gong” asks the listener to go into an unmarked door, walk upstairs to the
fourth floor, quietly open the door and peer in. The reviewer in this case, though fancying himself an adventurer, was
relieved to find the door locked.
To be honest, I had the same problem with the Soundwalks I’ve heard.
Meat Packing District seemed more intent on sounding
cool and hip, dazzling me with the “nat sound” than telling me stuff that I really wanted to know. Many great literary
names did work in the area and there’s nary a mention of them. But others may disagree and find them perfectly fine. No
real new ground here, but I think this will be a neat new long tail business niche and so I’m trying to stay abreast of
what’s happening in the audio tour arena.