Well, for me I fear that Amazon may disable the text to speech when they do automatic upgrades. I like the feature and feel that I "paid" for it as it was an advertised feature for the upgraded K2 even though it purported to be experimental and can be discontinued at any time. They said that about the basic browser, and it's turned out to be a major selling point for the Kindle! Even though the text to speech has flaws, it nice to have the choice to use it. Like most of you, I have mostly (50+ years since author death) free books that have no expectation of payment for non-enhanced audio playback. After all, I could have purchase Dragon Naturally Speaking software which is the program in the Kindle, and played them on my computer completely legally. I am thoroughly enjoying
The Three Eyes (1919) by Maurice Leblanc (
FeedBooks.com) and reading along with the narrative. Having the pages turned automatically is a real bonus for arthritic fingers, that, and I can sit back and enjoy my cup of Joe and be mesmerized with the Sci Fi storyline without interruption of turning the page turns myself.
I can understand that the authors and publishing companies should control their Amazon DRM books as per their contracts, and yes, audio should be an option for them so that the consumer can choose from non audio or non-enhanced audio such as what we have the K2 speaking program. Then of course there is professional audio which should cost more as either the actual authors or actors perform the book. It's all about choices.
