More About Downloadable Audio Books and iPods

Librarian.net talks about libraries offering downloadable audio books (or E-Audio Books) via Overdrive. I talked about this in January in which I describe how these audio books are not compatible with iPods.

Librarian.net suggests that we should move away from explaining to customers why the audio books do not work with iPods, or move away from assessing blame to some entity as to why the audio books do not work with iPods. In her words:

You can say “Here is this service we are providing you. Yes it won’t work on an/your iPod. Yes there are other ways to get audiobooks for your iPod and some of them are even free...

...What do we usually say? Well if my anecdotal experience is any indication — take with a grain of salt of course — we say “Yes you can check out an audiobook via Overdrive. No it won’t work on your iPod. This is the fault of [insert suspected faultmaker — whether it’s Steve Jobs or Bill Gates or Overdrive].” and then the story ends there. We can do better.

I like this. This takes an unpleasant situation and turns it into a situation in which the library is still providing information on what the customer needs.

Oh, and by the way, she then points out another blog (openculture) which lists a TON of free downloadable audio books that will work with iPods.