MP3 players, remember those? Photograph: Sarah Lee/The GuardianĪudible may have lost interest in old-school MP3 players – ones without wifi – but they are still an option. Unfortunately, removing internet access completely would now eliminate all the products that Audible lists on its “ how to listen” page, which nowadays doesn’t even mention MP3 players. But none of these stopped a flood of evil videos from being shown to young children on YouTube, for example, and even good content can have bad effects if used unwisely or to excess.
I guess you are supposed to protect children via a mixture of the UK’s sometimes heavily censored internet, services like OpenDNS’s FamilyShield, blocking specific IP addresses on your router, and device-level parental controls.
However, the trend is towards synchronising devices with the cloud, and streaming content from online services such as Spotify and – yes – Audible.Īmazon, which bought Audible in 2008, runs the world’s largest cloud in the form of AWS (Amazon Web Services), but you can still download Audible files for offline use. Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.You can still turn back the clock to a time when people used cables to transfer files – including ripped CDs and DVDs – from PCs to handheld devices such as PDAs, phones and MP3 players. We've personally tested 100% of these recommendations, and are sharing our authentic reviews. This harms accessibility.Īnd of course, any choice to purchase audiobooks from Amazon is a choice to give more money to a megacorporation and a missed opportunity to give that money to a company better aligned with your values.įortunately, there are easy-to-use Audible alternatives. Most notably, when Amazon creates Audible Exclusive audiobooks - like Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime” or Andy Weir’s “The Martian” - those audiobooks are not made available to libraries or bookstores to lend and sell. While it’s convenient to be able to access spoken word entertainment like audiobooks and podcasts through a monthly subscription, Audible is actually harmful to the industry at large. Not everybody realizes this, but Audible is an Amazon product.
We’re highlighting the best Amazon alternatives for those who have ethical, moral, or environmental qualms with the trillion-dollar company. This article is a part of an ongoing series on how to minimize or eliminate Amazon use from our lives.
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