Like everybody else, book publishers will be happy to see the end of 2020. But for many of them, the year has brought some positive news, which has been as welcome as it was surprising: Business has been good. From a report: With so many people stuck at home and activities from concerts to movies off limits, people have been reading…
Tag: audiobooks
Cory Doctorow Crowdfunds His New Audiobook to Protest Amazon/Audible DRM
Science fiction writer Cory Doctorow (also a former EFF staffer and activist) explains why he’s crowdfunding his new audiobook online. Despite the large publishers for his print editions, “I can’t get anyone to do my audiobooks. Amazon and its subsidiary Audible, which controls 90% of the audiobook sales, won’t carry any of my audiobooks because I won’t let them put any…
Google Maps Is Coming To Apple Watch, Adding CarPlay Dashboard Support
Today, Google announced that Google Maps for iOS will be adding both an Apple Watch app and support for CarPlay Dashboard, increasing the likelihood that Apple users will reconsider Google’s potential contribution to their walks and rides. VentureBeat reports: Google Maps for Apple Watch appears to be a very stripped-down version of the iPhone app, offering users step-by-step directions and estimated…
Sonos Cofounder Hits Back at Spotify CEO Daniel Ek For Complaining About Apple
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek reiterated previous gripes he’s had with Apple during an interview this week, saying its platform is still not open enough to third-party apps like the Sweden-based music streamer. But according to the cofounder of high-end speaker and home audio company Sonos, Spotify operates an even-more closed ecosystem than Apple. From a report: In a tweet posted Wednesday,…
The Pandemic is Playing To Almost Every One of Amazon’s Strengths
An anonymous reader shares a report: As the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay inside, few companies have proven themselves as essential as Amazon. From groceries to cleaning supplies, shipments from Amazon have become lifelines for many who are steering clear of supermarkets and other physical retail stores. Company executives have likened the surge in demand to the annual holiday…
What Are the Best Free Streaming Services?
An anonymous reader shares some free streaming media options: There’s over 10,000 public domain audiobooks at LibriVox.org, created by volunteers reading public domain works. (If you’ve got time, why not record yourself reading your own favorite public domain poem or novel?) And there’s also a lot of free audiobooks (and ebooks) available through Hoopla, a free “digital media” service that’s partnering…
Audible Settles Copyright Lawsuit With Publishers Over Audiobook Captions
After months of back and forth, Audible has settled in a copyright lawsuit with major publishers over its plan to introduce captions to their recordings, a proposal that the publishing houses argued was simply reading. The Guardian reports: In July, the audiobook company owned by Amazon announced Captions, an additional function for the existing app that would allow customers to read…
Slashdot Asks: What Did You Like/Dislike About iTunes?
iTunes is officially dead with the release of macOS Catalina today. Apple decided to break apart the app into separate Apple Music, Podcasts and TV apps. “Each is better at its individuals task than it was as a section within iTunes, which was teetering on collapse like the Jenga tower of various functions it supports,” writes Dieter Bohn via The Verge….
Consumer Expert Argues Tech Addiction Is The User’s Responsibility
In 2014 consumer expert and Silicon Valley startup founder Nir Eyal wrote Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products. But five years later, the New York Times reports he’s offering consumers a new book about how to resist those habits — even while arguing that “addiction” is the wrong way to describe technology’s hold on people: There was a problem, yes, but…