4gb2
All Star Member
Posts: 24,146
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Post by 4gb2 on May 26, 2018 10:52:21 GMT -5
I borrow audiobook(s) from my library using an app called Overdrive. I use it on a cell phone, but I'm sure it is for computers as well. The nice thing is that the collection is more than from my library. There is a collection of libraries that share them. They can be checked out for up to 21 days. There are no fees or fines as the item is returned automatically after 21 days. Usually an audiobook would require 8 - 15 hours of actual listening time.
My library uses Media on Demand which is a service in Overdrive.
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Post by Zoe (Illinois) on May 26, 2018 11:04:17 GMT -5
Hello, 4gb2!
Thank you for this information.
Welcome to GBO! Hope you enjoy the site!
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Post by CampKohler (Sacramento CA) on May 31, 2018 10:22:05 GMT -5
When you say it is "returned automatically," technically that probably means that the patron is merely blocked from ever hearing it again. That in turn allows the work to be sent to another patron without violating the terms of the copyright management scheme. How do they do that?
If, every time the listener begins a new listening session, the device's date-time is checked, one could stop time, so to speak, by changing the date to the previous day for as long as it took you to finish the book. That tactic would fail if, at the beginning of each session, the library site had to be consulted by the listener's device in order to get the real-time date (vs. merely what the device was set to). So the question is, do you have to have a 'Net connection to start a listening session?
---- Signed Mr. Devious
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4gb2
All Star Member
Posts: 24,146
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Post by 4gb2 on Jun 1, 2018 1:24:52 GMT -5
The Listener / borrower is not blocked from taking it out again, but the AB is returned after 21 days whether he is done with it or not. The borrower can return it manually if he is done with the AB early. We really don't see dates just the number of days left in the rental period. Each Ab has a series of files usually between 5 and 10. At the end of the period those files are removed from your phone. Hope this answers your question.
I have not explored what a hacker would do, I'd be surprised if Overdrive had not considered tampering of the type you are talking about.
I really enjoy this method of listening / reading. I do it sometimes when I walk. I try to do it on less busy residential streets to cut down on the surrounding noise and so I can be more careful when crossing streets.
My current AB is David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. I am sure I would never have read this book, but listening makes it much more pleasurable for me.
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4gb2
All Star Member
Posts: 24,146
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Post by 4gb2 on Jun 1, 2018 8:46:47 GMT -5
Your last question "do you have to have a 'Net connection to start a listening session". I tried this, this morning I disconnected from the Internet and yes I was able to listen to the AB.
Each file takes about 45 mins. to an hour to listen to. So it is pretty easy to finish within a week or so, depending on how much time you are aloting to it.
You always know where you are in the AB because the display shows the book cover and time remaining and time elapsed and chapter/part.
If you realize that you have missed some of the reading there are buttons that will reverse 15 seconds or to the chapter beginning. It is pretty easy.
The file part is pretty obscure, you really don't have to be concerned about them.
I've listened to perhaps 30 ABs mostly fiction, but some nonfiction like my current Gladwell AB. Another AB I liked is a John McEnroe book. He narrated it and it was very interesting.
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Red
Full Member
*** On An Indefinite Trip **
Posts: 162
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Post by Red on Oct 19, 2018 7:54:09 GMT -5
I'm never, ever without a book, whether it's in print form, digital, or audio. Anytime my hands are busy and I cannot hold a book or Kindle, I listen to audiobooks. Even at night, in bed, I listen until sleep takes over. Have been downloading audiobooks from public libraries for more than 20 years now. I don't worry about the 21-day period because the books are transferable 99% of the time. After downloading, I transfer the files to iTunes, iPhone, and Seagate, then immediately return the files to the library. The transferred versions are mine to keep. It's legal, no need to hack.
I used to have a 160 GB iPod Classic that I used solely for audiobooks, until the device went kaput after 12 years of hard work. Since then, I've been keeping my audiobooks in Seagate 4 TB and my ebooks in Kindle, Calibre, iCloud, and Google Drive. At any given time, I own approximately 20,000 audiobooks and half of that amount in ebooks. It's easy to accumulate a substantial collection if one has access to large libraries. For instance, LAPL allows card holders to check out 30 books at a time while NYPL and Fort Worth allow 50 books each.
To listen, I transfer a batch of books stored in Seagate to my phone, then delete them after listening and move on to the next batch. No connection is needed, thus I've taken the books with me to 1/3 of the world already.
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Post by sandipaws on Sept 4, 2019 14:47:31 GMT -5
Liked to listen to Books on Tape on the long commutes to my job. It really made the drive a long more pleasant.
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