New York library offers audio downloads - Tech News & Reviews - MSNBC.com
This service is offered to library card holders. It is via Overdrive. I checked it out at last year's ALA Annual (in despised Orlando). It seemed way cool, but too rich for MPOW's poverty-stricken blood.
via LISNews, but of course.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Yeah, but those audio downloads don't work on the iPod or with Apple's iTunes. Only with Windows Media Player and Windows-based portable digital music players. That's like a library offering books-on-tape that don't work in a Sony Walkman.
I understand the library's reasoning, however. The digital files are in WMA format because of copyright issues. The library doesn't want people keeping copies of the digital items (however, apparently users can burn the files to CD, so that pretty much renders the issue moot doesn't it?). However, on a purely philosophical level, I don't think libraries should lend items that are of restricted use anyway. Libraries don't lend books that are somehow protected from photocopying. Why lend digital files whose function is even more restricted? If they are going to offer digital downloads, they ought to be in an open format like MP3 to maximize usability for all patrons.
Here's the Reuter's story that goes into a little more detail about the library's new digital offerings.
NY Library debuts digital audio books, no iPods
Post a Comment