Downloadable Audio Books Catching On

Not with the public, which has always liked them. But with publishers, who suddenly realize that there are some 70 million iPods out there and that people might actually want to listen to books on them. Downloadable titles are cheaper than buying the audio books on CD, of course. It's a growing niche market, but I think publishers are fools. In an era of flat and declining book sales, they ned to offer better value for the money, not try and squeeze out more bucks by making people pay twice or three times for the pleasure of reading a book on an electronic reader or listening to it on an iPod. Do people pay to watch a DVD on TV and then have to pay again to watch it on a portable laptop and pay again to watch it in their car? Of course not. Publishers should sell books FOR THE SAME PRICE they're available today and offer those buyers FREE access to that same book as an eBook and as a downloadable audio file for their iPods or to hear on their computers. Imagine, more value for the same money. It'll never happen.