# 22 Audio Books and Media Downloads

Audiobooks have been around for a long time and I have vivid memories of listening to "A Fortunate Life" by A.B. Facey in the car, as my family travelled to Queensland. For many years, my parents listened to several audiobooks on many trips throughout Australia and derived much pleasure from this.

I agree with another blogger who commented that the Amazon is not intuitive to use. I have found it a little awkward to use and the black & white interface a little dull. I can't help wondering if the contest over the Amazon Kindle and the Sony E-Reader will be superseded as people access free software to download ebooks straight onto their phones.

I had a look at both Overdrive and Bolinda. Unfortunately, my local library does not subscribe to these services. The staff member informed me that it may be coming in the next financial year but they presently offer no ebooks for loan. As I don't have an iphone (are there people like me out there?)this raises an equity issue over access. What is the cost of subscribing? Will this way of accessing books put a new spin on our annual budget submission and the way we access books?

I had a look at World EBook Fair and Project Gutenberg. I searched for last years's CBC Older Reader's book, "Jarvis 24", but was not successful. Interestingly, when I put in "Pride and Prejudice", I could immediately start reading the text by downloading it. I then searched for the two texts which are used in English at my campus. "Aniaml Farm" was immediately able to be downloaded, but "Night" was not on their database. This would be great for the student who has left his novel at home and needs to read it at school. However, the copyright issues concern me.

And what about the pleasure of just browsing in a bookshop and listening to the recommendations of a knowledgeable staff member? Can you compare the experience of receiving a beautiful book wrapped up as a gift versus a downloadable ebook? There is still much to ponder...