iPhone App for Audible and More Audio Book News

by DorothyD on July 17, 2010

Due to my ear infection, I was unable to give the topic the attention it deserves. I plan to write the article next week, complete with photos. For now, let’s take a look at some interesting audiobook news, shall we?

Audible’s App

Audible.com has finally released an app for iPod touch/iPhone users. It allows users to download content directly to a device, skipping the step of syncing with the computer. There are also listening badges, one of those worthless reward systems – in my opinion – that are being adopted by a lot of sites.

The news and events tab provides news, author interviews, and more. That may be useful. The listening stats section appears to track the number of titles in the library. Not sure how this is useful at all. It is likely going to improve as later versions come out, as some users have commented that while you can download to the device, you cannot actually browse and buy from the app. For now, if you have Audible books, give it a try. They do pretty much everything first-rate.

Universities Digitizing Libraries

The most recent college to push forward into the digital age is the University of Illinois. In an effort to increase accessibility of primary source materials, over 23,000 books have been digitized. This will allow users to search text more quickly and easily and will decrease wear and tear on valuable and fragile books. Many universities are working toward digitizing volumes and documents.

My eBook Wish

Somebody somewhere is probably working on this… at least I hope they are. My oldest son is heading to college next month and I am dreading the inevitable textbooks expenses. I’ve seen that they can range from $50-150 or more. We don’t have his list yet, but I know its coming. I dearly hope that these books will become digital and downloadable to a device like a Kindle and have lower prices. Then my kids wouldn’t have to lug around a ton of books and I wouldn’t have to be broke.

Weekend Fun

Check out I Write Like, a site that tells you what famous writer you write like. Admittedly, it is random. I got Margaret Atwood and was thrilled… until the REAL Atwood did it and tweeted that she got Stephen King and James Joyce! Try it for fun with different writing samples, but don’t take the results too seriously

AUDIBLE is an AMAZON.com Company

Written by :

DorothyD

AudioforBooks.com Author

Reading and writing are my passions. I read a lot of paper books as well as listen to audiobooks utilizing playaways from the local library. I listen to most of my audiobooks on my iPod. I read about one book/week and am rarely seen without one in hand. Come along and discuss this article in our friendly community forum.