Hi Marshall,
You posted a link to an article announcing new support for digital
audiobook downloads from public libraries from OverDrive.com for Mac
platforms:
Folks,
Ithought you might find this article of interest.
Marsh
Begin forwarded message:
From: Philip
Subject: MacDailyNews - Mac software introduced for digital
audiobook downloads from public libraries
Marsh,
Did you see this? Virtually all of the libraries in the state are
on this system.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/19161/
Phil
Thanks for this notice. I've been checking on OverDrive, because they
claimed they would create DRM-free download support for library
listening for the Mac for some time (originally targeted for a Summer
2008 release, and then targeted to be released about the time of the
Zune announcement. They've been running late several months late on
the Mac release. Just some comments. Up through this year, all their
library downloadable offerings have been only available in Windows
Media format, which means that not only can this content not be played
on an iPod, but any MP3 player used for this content also has to
support downloadable WMA DRM. (This is different from simple WMA DRM
and subscription WMA DRM, so this is a real nightmare). A few months
ago, OverDrive started releasing some of their library download
content as MP3 files without DRM. (It still expires on the OverDrive
Console on your computer after the subscription period). However,
these files can be transferred to iPods on Windows machine that
download the appropriate software. I've heard (but without details)
that some people have been able to run OverDrive software through
virtual machines (Fusion or Parallels) on the Mac.
Which, if any, library downloadable audiobook files from OverDrive are
available as MP3 files instead of Window Media format with DRM,
depends on your library branch. Most of these are still only
available as WMA with DRM. I'm trying the link for the OverDrive
console software for the Mac, now at:
http://overdrive.com/software/omc
To view the software agreement, use the Print button and send the
output to Preview. There's also an article about the new Mac
capability of the OverDrive software at the Teleread web site:
http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/11/18/mac-owners-overdrive-media-console-version-released-for-library-audiobooks/
And I think, from memory, that some public libraries in Canada and a
few in Australia may use OverDrive for digital audiobook downloads.
Cheers,
Esther
