Audible.com: An Adventure in Audio Books and Programs
Written: Jun 29 '02 (Updated Jun 29 '02)
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I have been using Audible.com for over a year to download my favorite books and magazine subscriptions. I currently have three subscriptions, The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition, and In Bed with Susie Bright. You can listen to your selections as streaming audio or by downloading them.
Home Page
Audible's home page is busy and can be a bit daunting the first time you visit. Across the top are links for Home, Free Audio, and Claim or Buy a Gift. Down the left column are the search box, selected categories, help for new visitors. You can visit the Help Center or call 888-429-5575 for help getting started. The rest of the home page is devoted to introductory offers and links to individual titles.
Listening Plans and Costs
Audible offers two subscription plans to its website, but you don't have to have a subscription to purchase audio. The Basic Listener plan is $12.95 per month for one daily, weekly or monthly subscription and one audiobook per month. The Premium Listener plan is two audiobooks per month for $15.95. They also offer deals on players if you need one with the purchase of a plan.
I usually listen to my audio content on my HP Jornada, so I haven't purchased a player from Audible. My three 12-month subscriptions range in price from $14.95 to $59.95 for a total cost of $114.95. I occasionally buy individual titles. They have ranged in cost from $1.95 to $9.95. I've found that the daily and weekly subscriptions are more than I can listen to in a week, so it doesn't make sense for me to use one of the subscription plans. However, If you would like to try a number of different subscriptions or multiple books per month, the subscription plans do save you money.
Watch for the occasional free programs available on Audible.com. For example, today I found "The Execution Tapes," an hour-long public radio special of recordings of Georgia's death house during electrocutions for free. This particular title may not be to your liking, but it is not unusual to find free titles on the website as you browse.
Selection
Audible distributes many audiobooks and subscriptions in fiction and non-fiction. If there are any public radio shows that you don't want to miss like All Things Considered or Car Talk, consider getting a subscription.
Audible also produces its own shows called "Audible Originals." My subscription to In Bed with Susie Bright is an Audible Original. In Bed with Susie Bright is a weekly program by Susie Bright, a nationally-known, sex-positive erotic writer and editor. She's best known for her annual Best American Erotica compilations. Her programs are both informative and entertaining. The format of the show is that she gives personal and political commentary on sexual issues, interviews people in the sex industry and answers email from listeners and readers. Susie's website is, not surprisingly, http://www.susiebright.com.
Audible.com also produces Robin Williams @ audible.com and AudibleProops by Greg Proops. Both abridged and unabridged works are available. However, the unabridged works are mostly classics and very popular titles.
Each title provides basic information, Date, Provide, Media Type, Running Time, Format, and a description. Each title is available in up to five formats. Click on the Help with formats link to determine which formats are compatible with your player. Generally, the higher the format number the larger the download and the less distorted the audio. I can use formats 1 through 3, but I find that format 1 is excellent for the programs I listen to regularly and it saves space on my player so that I can download longer or more titles to it. Most titles provide samples. You can add titles to your shopping cart or wish list, or "ClickOut."
Purchasing
If you have already set up an account and enabled ClickOut, you can ClickOut for immediate inclusion in your library or shipment without confirmation. I like to confirm all of my purchases, so I keep this option disabled. Instead, I will add an item to my shopping cart. From my Basket, which lists my selections and their prices, I can move an item to the wish list, remove an item, continue shopping or checkout. At the checkout screen, the items, any applicable taxes (charged for purchases made from New Jersey), shipping and handling, the total and my billing information from My Account are listed. To make a purchase, click "proceed with purchase." Your credit card will be charged and the audio items will be available in Your Library.
Downloading and Listening
You can listen to your programs in several ways. The first option is to listen to a program as streaming media directly from the website. The second option is to listen from your desktop on a media player, such as Windows Media Player or the Audible desktop player. Finally, you can make you audio portable by burning it to a CD or transferring it to a mobile player.
In order to listen to your selections from anywhere other than the Audible.com web site, you must install the AudibleManager (2.5 Mb) on your desktop and the AudiblePlayer for your player by clicking Download Software to Listen. You will be prompted to restart your computer when it's finished.
To transfer the titles you have purchased to your desktop, click on My Library and the top of the web page and download from the New, Heard or Archive Individual or Subscription Programs, or use the AudibleManager manage your titles. When you first open it, AudibleManager will prompt you for your account and password for activation. Be careful if you want to install in multiple places, for example, work and home, because you have a limited number of activations, three, and you can only deactivate one of your activations every six months. Although I have had no problems activating my HP Jornada, when I tried to activate my CD burner at home no compatible CD burner was found. If you plan to use mostly CDs to listen to your audio, you may want to research whether or not your CD burner is supported before purchasing titles.
You can elect to have titles that are transferred to your AudibleManager automatically transferred to your listening device or drag and drop them individually. I prefer to choose the programs that I want to listen to at a time that is convenient for me because I often have to quickly undock my laptop and go to a meeting.
When I first installed AudiblePlayer on my Jornada, it was very annoying because the player automatically came up first and I was unable to look at my calendar quickly and often had to reboot to clear the memory. However, this bug has been finally been fixed after many months of "It'll be ready in two weeks," in the latest release, and I am much more satisfied with the service.
Customer Service
When Audible was first purchased by Random House, customer service declined markedly. They removed nearly all mention of their customer service phone number from their web site and it was extremely difficult to contact them, trying to get people to rely exclusively on the help section. Unfortunately, there are always questions that only a person can answer and I stopped recommending them to my friends and family at that time. Luckily, they have seen the error of their ways and returned to displaying the customer service phone number, 888-253-5051. It is now available from the Contact Us link on the Help Page. However, they are based in NY and they answer the phones only Monday through Friday, 10AM to 8PM EST. Expect to stay on hold for several minutes before getting someone, but I have found that they have been very fair in crediting lost subscriptions. When Audible.com was unavailable for a week following September 11, they credited all subscriptions an extra month.
Bottom Line
I recommend Audible.com if you enjoy listening to audio programs. Although the selection of unabridged book titles is a bit limited, there is a wide selection of books and subscriptions to choose from. I have been very happy with the quality of the audio and the variety of programming. Finding and purchasing titles is fairly easy, but initially getting set up to download and listen to your programs can be a bit complex. The AudiblePlayer and Customer Service have improved dramatically in the last few months. The technical details may be a bit daunting at first, but in the long run the cost savings and convenience make using Audible.com worth the initial challenge.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Janine White
Location: Chandler, AZ
Reviews written: 194
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About Me:
Criminologist turned Software Engineer
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