Audible = Shit

NickE

if you value your time and your sanity, never EVER use audible.co.uk for audible books. it is *the* shittest, most poorly designed software (system) I have ever used. point blank. they're so friggin paranoid you can't just download the dumb thing in a non-proprietary format, you ahve to use their software and can only use certain devices, lest you're some evil book-on-tape pirate who's going to bring down the industry with a single download... stupid f*cking software... </end rant> sorry about that. I feel a lot better now...

osid

Better out than in. I'm now not going anywhere near the filthy, stinking, up their own ar$e, ba$tards.

Wanderer

Hey SirNot mate, how come it's "shitty and paranoid" when Audible does it but super OK and acceptable when Microsoft does it?

NickE

I never said it was, I just never had any crappy experiences with ms products in that regard (or, come to think of it, much at all). in other words, as far as I've used windows, paranoia on their part has never obstructed functionality for me (like it had to my great annoyance in that audible thing). and it's not like apple iStuff isn't proprietary/paranoid either. wanna install mac os x on a non-apple machine? better have a lot of time on your hands and a good legal team.

Wanderer

Mate, proprietary stuff you know about going into it from the start, no use whining about it if you jump in feet first.

As for you "never had any crappy experiences with ms products" well that's simply a joke or you are very tolerant or perhaps you just don't know any better.

I'm on a help desk occasionaly for a Windows-only application and the hoops our customers have to jump through because of Microsoft policies and technical issues are unbelievable. No Mac user I know of would put up with the shit.

Anyway, thanks for the warning about Audible, co-incidentally, I had just been sent a "free book offer" as a trial, I'll take a little more notice before I hand over my details.

NickE

well objectively I suppose audible wouldn't be much of a problem if you have an ipod or a well known player (eg. creative, etc.), but the player I was trying to put it on was just generic and thus wasn't supported (there's a built-in list of supported players...), and since the format is proprietary I was basically screwed. furthermore I'd have problems with it even on the computer, as audible only has plugins for wmp and itunes, and I use foobar2000 for listening. it was just *really* pissing me off that they couldn't just give you a darn audio file when you pay them good money. >As for you "never had any crappy experiences with ms products" well that's simply a joke or you are very tolerant or perhaps you just don't know any better. I can honestly tell you the most trouble I've had with windows is an occasional restart (occasional as in, like, once every few months), and effectively no bsods; I've had more problems with my grandparents mac -- although in all fairness that is old and was a store model, so that's not really unexpected. this may largley be due to the fact that I use relatively few ms products for a windows machine (only windows and office, really) and don't play many games, which are probably the most common type of program to cause bsods. I also don't do anything really stupid like download attachments from people I don't know (I've been virus/spyware/adware free since I built this computer and I've never used any anti-anything software)

Wanderer

Just out of interest, what proprietary format does Audible use that your device can't handle?

Looking at their compatibility chart it seems to be rather extensive for both hardware devices and system platforms.

Maybe you should ditch your foobar2000 and get with the times?

Krak

foobar = leetsauce. Used to use it, loved it. But since I got my iPod I just find it easier to comply and use iTunes.

WallPhone

Drink that DRM Kool-Aid.

I'll stay out in the open, and point and laugh when you upgrade your hardware that just happens to obsolete nearly everything you purchased.

thankyouverymuch.

Wanderer

iTunes rules! DRM? I don't know what all the fuss is about, I convert my music (AAC) to MP3 and play it anywhere I want on any device I own, burn it to CD, I can give it to anyone I please, no restrictions.

Krak

I've never purchased anything from itunes, nor do I plan on it. Usage of iTunes is purely for its organizational purposes of my mp3 (yes, mp3s) library and ipod.

It just happens to be the easiest thing to keep my collection nicely sorted and to update the ipod.

Wanderer

Krak man, I agree although I have been given gift vouchers occassionally which I have redeemed for good music.

I've been using iTunes since before it was iTunes, the original name, before Apple bought it, escapes me at the moment.

It was always the best audio player, still is in my book (or should I say on my 'book).

NickE

foobar2000 > * <_< >_> seriously though, it's like the lightest, cleanest audio player out there. just because it's not bloated with extra crap that I don't need dosn't mean it's not 'with the times.' I shouldn't have to switch media players just because some company won't sell me a proper audio file (with audible you download a .aa file, which you can only play with an 'unlocked' supported [mp3] player) and as I said it wasn't so much that it didn't play on that particularly mp3/media player, I was more frusterated with the fact that I couldn't seem to get just a simple mp3 or ogg without all the strings attached.

Wanderer

Sorry I thought you made that "foobar" name up to indicate a generic device, I've never heard of it :-|

I don't like DRM or locked devices but I do understand the authors of the content wanting to protect their work.

No simple solution from this humble punter.

Also no idea what an .aa file is either, maybe you could send me a sample and I'll see if I can convert it?