Talk:Audible (service)

Amazon purchase
Would someone remove the Nasdaq ADBL reference (other than for historical purposes) and replace with Audible being owned by Amazon?

Also, the current market cap is probably redundant, since it is now absorbed under Amazon. --pdq (talk) 16:40, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

The International Section

 * Could someone rewrite it so that it's in a more neutral tone? The current tone of it looks like some disgruntled non-North American wrote it. --70.21.80.141 06:08, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, there are definitely non-neutral sentences that keep reappearing. The last point in Summary Details and several sentences under International Access need to be removed/rewritten.  I would edit them, buI think leo leport should be mentkioned here because he advertises and helps make audable the largest online website for digital audiobooks on the internett that seems to have been done several times already, to no avail.  Willoh 21:22, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Removed entry:

 * Audiobook Cutter is an easy-to-use tool which splits large MP3 audiobook files into smaller ones based on silence detection.

since you can't use it to edit .aa (Audible) files. Donn Edwards 23:19, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

anyone know if the PSP can run audible files?Wardenusa 21:31, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

There are no Sony supported devices listed on the Audible web site. Donn Edwards 22:57, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

In response to your other question:

1. Close all Audible software

2. Launch Goldwave. Mine is version 5.11

3. Select "Open", change the file type to "All" and find the .aa file to open.

4. Save the file as .mp3 or whatever format you'd like. Donn Edwards 22:57, 17 April 2006 (UTC)

Replaced misunderstanding
I replaced this line: With: For the following reasons: Benceno 01:10, 23 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Platform(s): Mac, Windows for downloads, hundreds of devices from more than 200 manufacturers can be used to play the files, including MP3 Players, Windows CE, Palm and Symbian devices.
 * Platform(s): Mac, Windows for downloads, roughly 200 devices can be used to play the files, including MP3 Players, Windows CE, Palm and Symbian devices.
 * It now agrees with the information on audible.com
 * If it was really compatible with hundreds of devices from 200 manufacturers, the previous line "and care should be taken into consideration when purchasing a portable player to ensure compatibility." would not make much sense.
 * I seriously doubt there are more than a few dozen (if there are a few dozen) manufacturers of these kind of products.

Is there a conflict between the audible.com-DRM-System and other DRM-Systems (Microsoft PlaysForSure)?
Hi! Can a portable device manage both DRM-Systems: That of PlaysForSure (napster.com, napster.de, urge.com ...) and that of audible.com/audible.de? The article about Microsoft_PlaysForSure indicates it cannot manage both. Such is my experience. But iriver said that the portable audio device "iriver T30 (P)/MTP 1GB" can manage both. That indicates also the FAQ/Help-Sides of Iriver: http://www.iriver.com/support/faq_view.asp?searchProductIdx=&searchString=&page=1&idx=400&tmpSearchProductIdx=Select+a+Product&tmpSearchString= http://www.iriver.com/product/p_detail.asp?pidx=73 Does somebody know a portable device, which is "surely" able to manage both DRM-Systems, so that you can copy and play files of both DRM-Systems at the same time on one device? --Pistazienfresser 15:07, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

Overhaul
I decided to follow the Wikipedian advice to be "bold" and overhauled the article.


 * I removed the (linked) reference that it was an online music store, because it's not. Even if there's music that I am unaware of offered, it is not their primary purpose, and would be the equivalent of describing a 7/11 as a beef jerky store.  I did, however, leave the infobox in place, as its content served the article.


 * I added the notable detail about being able to redownload files you've already downloaded.


 * I removed the "Summary details" section because
 * I've never seen a summary article on Wikipedia before.
 * This "Summary" wasn't-- it was a random gaggle of facts, some of which were already included, others were not.
 * It was poorly written, including standalone unreferenced statements like "Audible's DRM scheme has received a lot of criticism."
 * Much of the detail belonged at other places in the article. That which was not incorporated (or duplicated) above was removed.


 * I created the DRM section, and moved the "international" information there (since that's what it is). I also explained the international bit and linked to their faq.


 * Created Website and pricing section.

All in all, I feel this constitutes a significant improvement to the content.CatherS (talk) 11:33, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Removed Linux reference
This line, specifically. "Additionally, Linux users may only find out after purchasing a title that Audible does not support their operating system."

I would say this is "uncited original research"-- but in fact, they did no research. It comes across to me as someone who just blithely ordered a book without bothering to check, and then wanted to complain. This is not a message board for complaints. Similarly, I don't like the comments about international users-- they read like gripes not information-- but the expectation level is something different. If I visit an international website, I would expect it to let me know if I couldn't order something (and a lot of websites DO say US orders only)-- but if I were using an operating system that is not supported by a vast majority of software developers, I would expect to be mocked for blindly assuming that a given software package runs on my system.

The article, as it stands, already lists the supported platforms. Whining seems superfluous. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CatherS (talk • contribs) 10:19, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Vanguard Series
No mention of the modern vanguard series or whatever its called? you know the fact that they are producing audiobooks of old classics and such.... i dunno, wiki pages usually mention in a books article if audible has reproduced it.

Example:
 * "In 2009, Audible.com produced an audio version of American Psycho, narrated by Pablo Schreiber, as part of its Modern Vanguard line of audiobooks"

79.97.11.149 (talk) 00:38, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

First portable audioplayer?
Anyone knows the technical details like samplerate, bitwidth, stereo, flashmemory, etc for this unit: "Audible introduced one of the first digital audio players in 1997. The following year it published a Web site from which audio files in its proprietary .aa format could be downloaded. Audible holds a number of patents in this area." Electron9 (talk) 19:50, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Format
I would imagine that this is not widely known, and even the Audible pages have it wrong, but the latest "Enhanced" format is not MP3, but rather AAC. You can easily see this if you look at the files in a hex editor. An enhanced format file has near the start the string "M4B mp42isom" and actually has other stuff that would clearly identify it as a MP4 file where as the Format 4 has the string "mp332" in it would would indicate an MP3 file encoded at 32kbps which is right for the file sizes and the blurb on the Audible website. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jabuzzard (talk • contribs) 19:44, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

Smithsonian Institution

 * Audible introduced one of the first digital audio players in 1997, four years before the introduction of the iPod; the player is now displayed in the Smithsonian Institution.

I've searched a while to verify and can't find anything. -- Green  C  15:13, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Google Admob adware (Audible app)
Why is adware incorporated in the Audible app and what does it exactly do? Does Amazon spy on paying customers? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:908:D510:A0:2DE2:DA92:DB6D:875D (talk) 12:02, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

Namespaces
Recommending Audible.com be attached to the business name namespace Audible Inc. for consistency. In like manner to Amazon Inc. for business name references. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amazon_Inc.&redirect=no ) Justaleaf (talk) 15:19, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

history
Strangely, the history section begins with the first product. Who founded it? Why? Was it the CEO who died? How did he die? 2600:4040:7844:3A00:686B:977D:714D:DC4B (talk) 03:19, 2 November 2023 (UTC)