Download Squad

BOOKS

In the realm of free books, there's always Project Gutenberg, an online repository of books in easily-digestible text format. There are a number of mobile apps and web services or desktop apps that use the content at Gutenberg, so chances are if you're reading a copy of "The Illustrated History of Furniture" in some electronic format, it's from the project.

Lulu
Then again, you could always buy a book that can't be found on Amazon or on the shelves. Lulu features books by authors who don't have a publishing contract but they have something to say. Lulu provides the on-demand printing they need. There's a little something for everyone, including calendars, cookbooks and a range of fiction and non-fiction. Lulu has an audio section, but I find the quality lacking (though the prices can't be beat).

Other contenders: Similar to Lulu, Blurb offers the ability to make your own books. The quality is fantastic, and their desktop app has a more "pro" model if you need high-end calibration.

If you want the short-and-sweet version of business books, I recommend Executive Book Summaries. They offer individual and site licenses, so an entire office can listen to some of the best business books out there, in a condensed but comprehensible format. They also have an "executive gifts" section, as this is particularly useful to gift to another business. If more consumer fare is your bag, there's the venerable Audible.

VIDEO

Thanks to the ubiquitous Flash video technology online videos are less than a dime a dozen. Now you can use sites like video meta-search engine Truveo to scour the web for darn near any nostalgia, viral or just plain cute video imaginable. A couple of these are worth noting because of the content. YouTube is great, but there's a wide chasm between user-generated-but-accidentally-kitsch and pro-quality. Here are some of the better sites to check for video:

Netflix
Have you heard of it? Unless you've been under a rock you're aware of this service. Thanks to Netflix, and their constant presence (profitable or not), companies like Blockbuster have had to step up and offer online rentals and forge deals with hardware vendors to deliver videos online. Netflix still offers a huge range of services that manage your queue (third party apps that schedule what you're likely to get in the mail each month), and offers a range of delivery methods (online direct shows or physical mailers).

Streaming good times: Hulu and Joost. Of course, Hulu is home to all NBC/Universal content, but it aggregates Fox and others. If you want episodes or snippets of properties from those studios, you won't find them on YouTube (not for long, anyway). Hulu actually provides a good experience and massive collection. Unfortunately, if you want to get caught up on a show that is current, it can be frustrating. I recently tried to get caught up on "The Office," but found the episodes had been replaced by "producer" cuts, or worse: mere snippets.

Joost, on the other hand, simply injects a couple of short ads into the experience. In exchange, you get full episodes of shows. They don't have as many top-shelf properties as Hulu, but there is a little something for everyone on Joost, and you no longer need the desktop client to view it all. You will, however, need an account of some kind.

OTHER

No trip down interweb lane would be complete without a mention to The Internet Archive, mother of all freely-downloadable audio, video and text. Choose from movies, animation, live music, documentaries and slideshows, historical documents and much, much more. Downside: formats are varied and usually low-res, offerings skew to the nostalgic.

If you're being cheap this year, consider a simple card or letter to your friends. Tacking on a URL with handy, downloadable and enjoyable content is like a gift that keeps on giving. Until the site's server crashes or they are served with a cease-and-desist, of course. If you have other sites as suggestions, leave 'em in the comments.

Happy Holidays! Be sure to check out our full Holiday Gift Guide here.