Audible.com Review

I guess you could say that the bottom line for this review is that I absolutely LOVE Audbile.com.

One of my goals towards the end of 2006 and moving forward into 2007 was to read more.  With so much garbage on TV and in the media, I felt it was important to focus on information that could help me grow, both personally and in my business.  And if you're a bit of a slow reader like me, then you can probably already see how valuable it is to have books delivered in audio format versus paper and ink (though some of the best books warrant both formats).

Now I have to admit, there are few drawbacks to what Audible has to offer.  It can be pretty easy to get distracted or not be fully in tune with the audiobook you're listening to.  Also, some books just lend themselves better to being in print, especially if there are lots of checklists, steps or exercises throughout the book.  Audible takes care of some of this by giving you PDF downloads with this type of info, but for many audiobooks, that option isn't available, making the print version a must have.  In addition, though Audible offers both abridged and unabridged versions for many of their books, the unabridged versions are sometimes prohibitively long.  I mean seriously, who's going to EVER finish an audiobook that last 20+ hours?

Despite from those drawbacks, there are a few reasons why I like Audible so much.  First, I can multitask a lot easier when I'm taking in an audio book rather than reading.  Reading is a very active pursuit…you have to be totally focused.  With audiobooks from Audible.com, I can be working out, driving to or from work, taking care of things around the house, or any number of things while still getting great info from one of the thousands of books available from their site.  To be honest, this was my saving grace when I was living in Korea during one of my assignments in the Air Force.  How else do you make it through a 13 hour flight (4 times!)?

Another thing I like about Audible.com is that it's brain dead simple to get the audiobooks into Apple ITunes or my Apple IPod.  It used to be more of a challenge, requiring a different program and not exactly a seamless process.  Now, as soon as you purchase your audiobooks, it asks you if you want to download them.  As long as you have ITunes set up as your player for your audiobooks, you're all set and they'll download right into your ITunes library. 

I'm firmly convinced that the combination of the IPod with a service like Audible makes for one of the most powerful learning environments you can get for your money.  If you don't have one, or a similar MP3 player, you're doing yourself a disservice and should really consider getting one.

So I'm sure all that sounds great, but you're probably wondering about the cost.  Well before we cover than, first consider the fact that often times if you wanted to get an audio version of a book from the book store, say on CDs or tapes, you'd probably pay more than the cost of the print version of the book.  It could be $30 - $40 for a book on CD.

However, Audible.com makes purchasing audiobook super affordable.  They have a couple of packages available which vary based on monthly fee and number of audiobooks you can download per month.

The package I'm on is about $30 per month and that gets you 2 credits each month.  Your typical audiobook will only cost you one credit so that's 2 audiobooks per month.  And it doesn't matter how much the retail price of the audiobook is.  So whether it's a $9.95 audioibook or one that costs $29.95, you're only docked one credit. 

There are a few exceptions, such as some of the foreign language materials, since they're so much more expensive, with retail prices in the hundreds of dollars.  So those might cost more credits.  But for the most part, the one-book, one-credit model is pretty consistent.

You can also roll over your monthly credits.  So if you want one of those more expensive items that requires more credits, you can "save up" for it.  But it might be cheaper just to purchase it outright, depending on the cost.  And that's the other option you have.  Instead of using your credits, you can simply purchase audiobooks.  So if you've already used your credits for the month and find another audiobook you just can't wait to have, of course Audible would be more than happy to give the chance to purchase it.

So all in all, I'd have to say I'm thoroughly pleased with Audible.com.  If being able to consume more content at the speed of sound appeals to you or you'd like to be able to breeze through entire books in a matter of hours, I recommend you check out Audible.com and give them a try.

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