"Freed From the Page, but a Book Nonetheless"

Today's New York Times includes an opinion piece with a title that will resonate with audiobook addicts: Freed From the Page, but a Book Nonetheless. Although author Randall Stross uses the term to describe the Amazon Kindle, he makes some points that apply to the digitization of books in the audio format as well. I thought his argument that the Kindle may be the tool that will champion the eBook with an "irresistible combination of software and hardware for book buyers" connected with my desire for a crystal ball to predict the dominant format for audiobooks in a decade's time.
I am waiting for that combination of software/hardware that frees the audiobook from not only the page, but from the whole digital rights management murky mess. Will the cell phone be the distribution medium that will replace the CD? Audible does have their cell phone download option Audible Air, but the setup doesn't have a point-and-click simplicity that will allow universal ease.
And Stross' quote from Apple's CEO might explain why some of the DRM battles exist for audiobooks. Here's what Steve Jobs thinks about books and the need for a killer app for digital reading: "Yet, when Mr. Jobs was asked two weeks ago at the Macworld Expo what he thought of the Kindle, he heaped scorn on the book industry. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year.”" Read Stross' article for a rebutal to Job's numbers.
And Stross' conclusion praising Amazon's support of the eBook is equally valid for the audiobook industry: "The object we are accustomed to calling a book is undergoing a profound modification as it is stripped of its physical shell. Kindle’s long-term success is still unknown, but Amazon should be credited with imaginatively redefining its original product line, replacing the book business with the reading business."

Digital Rights & the Audiobook

Digital Rights Management. Downloaded audiobooks from the public library or web-based vendor can find listeners hobbled by piracy protection. Stephen Downes has an interesting post in his Half an Hour blog on Economics in a DRM-Free World (thanks to Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk blog for the link).

But the tide is turning. Read about the first major online distribution of audiobooks without copy protection in this NY Times article on DRM-free audiobooks at EMusic. Major publishers are testing this low-cost MP3 method of distributing audiobooks. Want to find out more? Visit EMusic's audiobook site to see what they are offering. Soon, Amazon followed with their MP3 website, which carries audiobooks - but clearly is slanted towards music. Just try to easily search for audiobooks on the site! But Amazon's purchase of Brilliance Audio clearly shows the online behemoth's desire to expand its reach into the audiobook world. Read more in this Publishers Weekly article.

Some writers are bypassing the print medium entirely, Authors who serialize their works for free on the Podiobooks website follow many of the ideas in Downes' post, in a digital route that reminds me of how Charles Dickens' novels were first available in popular magazines (the blogs of the 18o0s!).

The issue of fair compensation for authors when their works are distributed digitally is most certainly important. Publishers are to be commended as they seek new methods to "print" works digitally, while ensuring an author's livelihood. Audiobooks are yet another entertainment medium in the intellectual property proving ground. It will interesting to see how things stand in 2009!