I actually deviated from the directions a bit for this exercise.
I am an audio book person at heart.
For the last many years, between commuting to college, waiting for appointments, walking, or just needing to occasionally cook or clean...listening to an audio book has become a regular part of my daily routines. So when I saw the link for AudioBooksForFree.com, I had to check this out.
First, let's talk about the things I do like. The interface is fairly clean, the organizational structure of the content, and details about the particular titles are nicely formatted on the page. It's easy find a favorite genre. All titles list how long the piece is as well as info about the author and narrator. Tabs across the top section link to content by fiction, non-fiction, children's stories, and music.
What seems to be the case is that depending on the amount of files you'd like to download...it could very well end up not being free. Also, certain titles do not seem to be available unless "bought". It appears some authors actually have money deposited into paypal accounts for access to their work.
Now, I honestly don't have a problem with paying for this service (as I would if I decided to purchase a print book). But the site title is a smidge misleading. I couldn't come up with a better one...but finding out it wasn't really free after all was disappointing.
Also, under "size vs. sound quality...well 8kps is free. OK...I'm not sure what a kbps is yet, but free is associated with a "bearable quality.
For $5 USD, I can get "tolerable quality". But $8 USD will buy me "very good quality".
My intention is not to knock this service. It is convenient. They do seem to have their bases covered with things like:
- List of Download Managers.
List of Multimedia Players.
Is your portable mp3 player suited to play audiobooks?
FAQ, HELP, Potential Problems, Support
And, the selection is decent.
But for this girl who watches her pennies...my local library is still the best deal in town...no matter what medium I'm looking for.
As for eBooks. I read all the time online. But, everything I read though is fairly short though.
If I need to read something that requires extra concentration or something of length regardless of the purpose...I usually prefer paper if that's possible. My eyes are grateful too.
I wouldn't discourage anyone from accessing the vast amount of resources available from sites like World EBook Fair' site. To have this resources at your fingertips is truly magnificent. It's just not for everybody all the time.
jane
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