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Audible.com
Has anyone noticed that Audible looks like a fantastic product on the surface, but that as soon as you want to join (like I did a couple of times as an attempted spur-of-the-moment impulse buy) you start to look at how it works and it's almost like they don't want to make it clear what you are getting. It's sort of like "We have lots of audiobooks and you'll love us.... Buy Now! But if you want to know more, you can find out by signing up first."
I know it's not that bad, but it was enough to keep me away. I rent audiobooks elsewhere, or I buy and resell audiobooks from a used book store (even on cassette for my car!)
Wouldn't you think the basics would be easy to see?
Like:
1) Can you play the audiobooks as mp3 on other players?
2) Can you play other mp3s on the audible player?
3) How do the magazine subscriptions work?
4) Is there an expiration for books you buy, or can you still listen to them after you cancel your membership?
5) What are the different membership plans, and what exactly do you get?
6) Are there pay as you go plans? (Like join for $20, then buy books at $10/book or whatever. I'd still join if I could get a deal similar to that.)
I've probably asked similar questions some time before when I was interested, but I can't remember. Maybe one of our readers is also an Audible fan and can point me to some answers? If not maybe I'll send them off to Audible support and post the response here for everyone.
It just seems to me that commiting to $25/month (or whatever the price) is a bit steep for two books per month when your reading is erratic, and the lower priced subscription is for one/mo plus a magazine I think. That also doesn't seem like it would really fit most people's reading habits.
Like I said, it looks like a fantastic setup.... well, except for the subscription plans and the lack of information. Am I missing something?
I only know of one subscriber off hand from our members... are there more out there?
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