4/29/2023 0 Comments Playaway goreader![]() I can see benefits for public libraries in using the Playaway format: part of the title can’t be lost as with tapes and CDs, and it would discourage theft, but I think the large initial outlay and doubt over the format’s likely success would put them off. Locked content works seriously well for small-market applications where an institution buys a package of items with content loaded–modern museum audio tour guides are probably likely to work this way, so that the public isn’t likely to nick the thing and it’s kept simple.įor the mass market, consumers or public libraries, there would be more to lose if the format didn’t take off. My issue with the Playaway is that it’s aimed heavily at the mass market, with a selection of bestseller titles most people probably won’t want to read more than once, and I doubt it’ll take off. A school with a number of slow readers could do worse than get a bunch of Playaway titles, because they would indeed benefit from the independence from technology and the fact that it’s a locked-content device. In the UK there seems to be a Read and Write initiative by the government or somebody which has brought out a lot of very short (novella-length) books in a package with the written text and audio tape and CD, so there obviously is a use for that concept. I hadn’t actually considered the question of a particular market in Special Needs, but you’re quite right that it would serve that quite well. In order to make the Playaway work for libraries, the market would have to take it up in a big way so they wouldn’t be investing in numbers of titles in an unsuccessful format (only available from one company), and I can’t see any way this would happen. They know how to shelve tapes and CDs, there is shelving of the right size, and there is a huge selection of titles in a format which won’t disappear without trace in a year or two. Most public libraries are still doing audiobooks on tape/cd, with a small number doing modern digital formats with DRM. It’s useless for libraries because it’s too big a risk of exactly this ‘the-format-won’t-take-off’ variety. It’s a small American company, not Sony or iTunes, so it’ll probably have a few sales over a couple of years and then sink without trace, leaving behind a hardcore of devoted listeners who swap titles over the Internet. I’d actually consider this for classic audiobooks that I’d listen to a number of times, but it has one big, big flaw the way they’re doing it with popular bestsellers: to be any use at all, there need to be quite a lot of titles easily available. Almost anybody younger or less afraid of technology will see this as a backward step, because swapping Playaway titles (on ebay, with friends, at the library) depends on the product being extremely successful, and there’s nothing to suggest it will be. It would be an excellent thing for old people who want an alternative to tape that’s very simple, but because you’re not only locked into a format but locked into a *title*, it won’t work. I have no doubt it’s probably well-implemented, but it won’t catch on. ![]() It’s a solution to a problem that’s already dying away. I know that many libraries check out audio books on MP3 playersĪnd on CD so the Playaway audio books would be a nice format to add to the I also see this product as a nice addition to a libraryĬollection. But if I purchased audio books, I would buy from If you buy audio books on CD you should really give I used all of the buttons and they worked great. Playaway Button: Used for Power On, Play, Pause and Power Off. Skip Forward: Skip to the next chapter or bookmark.Ĩ. LCD Screen: The LCD screen shows you chapter, time remaining in chapter and battery icon.Ħ. Skip Back: You can skip to the previous chapter or bookmark.ĥ. You can move through the bookmarks and remove bookmarks.Ĥ. Bookmark: You can set up to 50 bookmarks to mark key passages. Voice Speed: There are three levels to choose from for voice speed: normal, fast and fastest.ģ. Volume: You can increase the volume level from 1 to 10. The buttons work very well on the Playaway and they give you several options:ġ. There are several buttons on the small unit (the unit is about 2 inches wide and less than 3.5 inches long). By the way, you can use your own earbuds or other earphones. The headphones are black earbuds and the black lanyard fits through a pull-up hook on the top of the audio book.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |