Listen Here
ipods are apparently the best thing to happen to libraries since, well, books.
Library director Ken Weil says the branch purchased 14 iPod Shuffles in March that members can check out with pre-downloaded audiobooks. (And no, they don’t play the chapters in shuffle mode.) The iPods, Weil says, are “always out.”
That folks can pick up a gadget approximately the size of a cigarette lighter at their local library, programmed with a current bestseller for their listening pleasure, is the realization of countless sci-fi movies and Philip K. Dick novels.
Okay, let's get this straight: We don't want to live in a Philip K. Dick novel. I mean, there was the one Ridley Scott made into a movie where gross sub-human things are our slaves. Then there was that one directed by Spielberg where the little robot kid gets all mutilated. And that other one directed by Spielberg where Tom Cruise gets sucker-punched for a crime he didn't commit--before it even happened!
If iPods in libraries bring us that much closer to living in Philip K. Dick's world, then let's get the little buggers the hell out of the library.
Oh, and isn't this great?
Audible is also recognizing the potential market for [digital audiobooks] among younger consumers. The company is launching Audible Education in the third quarter of this year, through a partnership with the textbook publisher Pearson, to make inroads to the college market. As part of the deal, Audible will produce 100 audio study guides to be sold alongside the print editions of Pearson’s textbooks. The guides, which are to include chapter reviews and other information, will essentially allow students to listen to their homework while doing laundry or working out.
Yeah, given how much laundry I did in college, that had better be one damn short book. Anyway, blah, blah, blah, lazy college students, blah, blah, blah, decline of reading . . . you know the drill.
ipods are definitely helpful in most of the download patterns. We need to explore more features to get acquainted with this new device.
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