Way Too Many Chances

I don't know why I do it, but I keep giving Audible more chances. They've pissed me off so many times in the past, but I still keep coming back, mainly because I don't have an iPod (so buying audiobooks through iTunes is out) and there aren't any other good resources for legal audiobooks online. I know I can illegally get audiobooks just about anywhere, but I like to actually pay for things I enjoy instead of illegally attaining them.

Why does Audible get another chance? A few reasons actually. The first is that I picked up a 1 GB Sansa m240 on Woot a little while back for $18. My previous mp3 player stopped being recognized by Audible's software after their last upgrade, leaving me out in the cold with no way to listen to the books I purchased. $18 seemed like a low enough price to pay to get at what I've already bought.

This leads me to a side note, however. It only cost me $18 for a 1 gigabyte player, which will hold like 10 audiobooks. Why doesn't Audible simply give out a player for free with a subscription to their service? I know they had promotions in the past that were similar to that, but it was usually "get a free mp3 player or 4 free audiobooks". Most people who already had mp3 players would take the free books, as I did. If the mp3 player was simply a part of the package, it would make so much more sense and Audible would know that users always had a player that could play their software.

The second reason Audible gets another try is the length my bus rides to and from work have grown to. With the 35W bridge gone, my bus route is more traffic packed so it takes me like 35 minutes or sometimes more to get to work and the same to get home. My bus has also gotten way more full, with the bus filled to capacity and having tons of cramped standers jammed in by the time I get downtown. So reading an actual book or playing my PSP is hard to do as cramped as I am. And besides, when I get on going home sometimes I have to stand, so it is simple to just listen to my audiobooks.

The final reason I gave back in is that I was sick of having to split mp3 files and organize them appropriately when I downloaded ripped copies of the audiobooks from Suprnova or Oink. It was just no fun having to do that extra overhead work to listen to books I'd already bought.

So Audible, you get one more shot. Let's hope you don't piss me off again or I may give up on audiobooks altogether.