VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Jeffrey Kafer]

iTunes is giving away the unabridged audiobook of The Millionaires by Brad Meltzer. and read by the incomparable Scott Brick. I don't know how long the deal lasts, but if you like thrillers, grab it. The icky iTunes software is required, unfortunately.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=3537476&s=143441
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Deirdre]

Nothing wrong with iTunes, Party Boy.

Thanks for the "heads up"!
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[Jeffrey Kafer]

There are many things wrong with iTunes, but I shall not get into them.

Instead, if anyone wants to hear one of the best audiobook narrators today, then listen to Scott Brick.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Deirdre]

Thou art teetering on the brink of a platform flame, Sir Geoffrey.
Do beware.
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[Jeffrey Kafer]

iTunes is a software application, not a platform. I merely don't like DRM locked music or content, be it iTunes, Zune, yahoo, or whatever on Mac, Windows, Ubuntu, or OS/2.

Perfect example is this audiobook. It's free, but since I don't have an iPod, I can't listen to it without first burning it to a CD, which this computer doesn't have. So I can just transfer the files to one that does, right? Nope! DRM locked content does not allow it, even though, again, the book is free!

DRM is evil and iTunes just happens to be my target right now since I really want to listen to this book, but lame technicalities are getting in the way.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[glittlefield]

There are quite a few solutions to this problem, but they all live on the other side of the tracks. (nudge, nudge) Apple's been steering away from DRM a little bit at a time, so maybe one day, this won't be such a burr in your saddle.

I find myself in the same boat when I find myself thinking it would be neat to have an open MAPI standard for email on any OS.

I don't have an MP3 player at all, so I just do one of two things:

1. download the files to the basement PC, share it via iTunes on that machine and listen to it with the laptop anywhere in my apartment via iTunes. Usually with my Lynx or GBA in hand.

2. burn it all to CD and listen in the car when I do road trips to remote client locations.
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Greg Littlefield
VO-BB Member #59

[Moe Egan]

I have itunes and love it. Nothing makes yard work fly by like plugging in and catching up on pod casts...(i conquered 36 bags worth of leaves this weekend!

Thanks for the heads' up on the free audio book. One of my business resolutions for the coming year to study up on audio books- one genre of VO i really haven't explored...so any tips on good audio book VOs (other than Mr. Fraley) are more than appreciated.
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Moe Egan
i want to be the voice in your head.
~~~~~

[louzucaro]

I'm with Jeff on this one.

Now of course I would never CONDONE anything like this, but there are rumors of software programs that can remove DRM data and turn those pesky protected files you paid for, or legally acquired for free, into good ol' fashioned MP3 files with nothing keeping you from using them anywhere, anytime.

One such rumor in particular is called SoundTaxi and it's rumored that it could be found at a place such as http://www.soundtaxi.info/

All kidding aside...I'm a big, huge advocate of copyright protection and things that go along with it and am vehemently opposed to pirating of any sort. But you aren't limited to playing a CD on a single CD player in a single location...DRM is more than just a nuisance, it's a way of preventing people from actually owning something they paid for and it's no good.
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Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com

"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!"

[JTVG]

Though I don't use it for much of anything right now, my only beef with iTunes is that everything is encoded at 128k. To critical ears, that's a pretty low rate. Why would I pay for a song that sounds like it was encoded by a 12 year old and downloaded from some cheap filesharing program?

Someone please correct me if they have improved the quality sometime in the last couple of months.
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Joe Szymanski
http://www.joethevoiceguy.com

[Jeffrey Kafer]

The iTunes Plus section is DRM-free and encoded at 256. But I'm sure Frank will pipe in any second now and dispel any myths that 256 is actually a better, higher encoding rate.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[ccpetersen]

The DH sells his music through iTunes and he has to supply a CD to CDBaby, which is the conduit for him to get in itunes, Rhapsody, etc. I've never listened to what they have posted (because, ahem... I'd have to PAY to download his music, which I already have here... )...
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Charter Member: Threadjackers Local 420

[Frank F]

No comment necessary about "lack O tunes" (or should that the i in iTunes stands for Apple, not the person buying product or services) or 256 kbps vs. 128 kbps... if you have not figured it out yet, you probably won't.

Basic addition states 128 kbps per side in stereo is better than 64 kbps per side (except when it comes to .wma, RealAudio, DigiDesign created .mp3's, and AU - the standard audio file format used by Sun, Unix and Java and is becoming preferred for many Mac OS's). Oops, I said too much already.

Toodles

F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

[Bruce]

[Deirdre]

FWIW— I am quite aware iTunes isn't a "platform".
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[Diane Maggipinto]

FWIW - i know nothing
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com