naturegirlApparently while I was gone, eMusic started selling DRM-free audiobooks from Random House. This is fantastic news, considering the vice-like grib that Audible has on the audiobook market, both on their own site and via iTunes. I discovered this when I went to eMusic to kill some of my 40 downloads a month, and attempted to get Carl Hiaasen’s Nature Girl (I loved his last book, Skinny Dip).

Then the big “BUT” hit me (hehe…): You have to add an additional $9.99 audiobook subscription to your account to get them, and it’s only good for one book a month! I’m already paying $15 a month for my downloads, why can’t they just subtract 20 or 30 downloads from me for the book and call it a day? Can’t I even have that as an option? I don’t usually use all my music downloads and I would love to try some of their books, but I’m not ready to fork over another $10 a month.

It’s still a better deal than iTunes, where most books are anywhere from $10-$25, but I don’t want to be locked into a subscription for books when frankly I won’t be downloading one every month. Maybe I’m missing some vital piece of information, or a trick to have it taken from my current downloads, but I don’t think so.

As an aside, I used the audiobook of iWoz to help me fall asleep on the plane back from Tokyo. Not because I find it boring, but Steve Wozniak’s Patrick Lawlor’s (thanks Fats Vernon!) voice is just so soothing! ;)

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Now playing: Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin’ (Tough Guys)
via FoxyTunes