Thing #22 Learn about Audiobooks

Overdrive audio and video are not compatible with Macs. They weren't compatible 2 years ago when I first tried to download an audio from the library, and two years of rapid growth in the Mac-using population later, they still aren't. And Overdrive does not seem to be the least concerned with trying to build a compatible product. How does this make me, a Mac user, feel?
Frustrated. Angry. Dismissed. Cheated. Cranky.

(One might think, then, that the solution would be to use another computer to download an audio. Say, for example, the wonderful free hi-speed public internet computers at my local public library? But oh, no. Downloading from Overdrive is not permitted on library computers. As a tech-knowledgeable library staffer, I know the many good reasons why this is so. As a customer, it's still incredibly stupid and frustrating.)

There is more to this compatibility problem, and it's actually a much bigger deal:
Overdrive is not compatible with iPods. The exact numbers vary widely by source, but well more than 50% and perhaps as many as 80% of all portable digital audio players are iPods. This is not likely to change anytime soon. What's the relevance of Overdrive if they're not even trying to develop iPod compatibility?

I love audiobooks. I listen to them a lot. I check them out from the library on CD in great number. I would greatly prefer to listen to audiobooks on my iPod, but alas, the library ones don't work, and the retail downloads (Audible, Amazon, iTunes) are much too costly.

mdlearn2 23things