TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

The Zune really seems like a transparent attempt to copy Apple’s vertically integrated business model. But the bottom line (and the thing which will doom Zune to failure) is that people just don’t like Microsoft very much. Of course, there is also the fact that Microsoft’s DRM is far more restrictive than Apple’s DRM – which, while it is deplorable that the music industry finds it necessary, is one of the least onerous major commercial music DRM schemes I’ve encountered.

The other problem with Zune is that Microsoft actually took out a feature that EVERY other portable music player (including the iPod!) has – the ability to use the device as a USB mass storage device. This is a pretty bizarre decision on Microsoft’s part (and no doubt it was implemented as a copy protection measure to prevent people copying songs back off the Zune onto someone else’s computer) and I imagine it will contribute to Zune’s failure.

I have begged to have the Zune compapible with audible.com and/or the library audio books. No response from Microsoft or Audible.

Will ANY books be available to download?

I don’t listen to music much, but I listen to two books a month. I have an old ipod, but am eager to switch to Zune.

BTW, I don’t think it is true that people dislike Microsoft any more than they dislike Apple.

The solution for audio books is simple but a bit of work. Just check out audio book CD from your public library and rip them to MP3 and then put the files onto any zune or ipod.
If you have downloaded audio files from Audible or overdrive, they have the option to burn them to CD and then you can rip them.

I got my wife the 30g a while ago and just got my mom a 30g for Christmas. Mainly, my mom will listen to audio books. While it might not be directly compatible with audible.com, it can be used for audio books. The problem is that it doesn’t have the bookmark feature. However, since most audio books are broken up into a bunch of 5 minute tracks, I don’t really see the problem. The user just has to remember about where they stopped, then skip over to that track and time… not too much of a problem. Having the bookmark feature would be nice, though. I think another problem with the zune is that it is dependent on the zune software, so I am not sure how it would work with the audible software.

I am content with ripping the CDs and then putting them on the zune… a timely process, but satisfactory, nonetheless.

My wife’s 30 g zune worked with audio books she gets from the library. Until she did the upgrade to 2.5 now the zune soft ware cant read the cda format of the audio books, have been jerked around by micro soft for two days trying to fix. Now we use micro media player to rip then drag to a desk top folder then added the folder to zune monitored folder list and can now sync to the device

I burned Audible books to a DVD and tried to load them to Zune software, and it doesn’t work. I have uploaded books on CD from the library easily to Zune, but it loads as music. Is there a way to keep these from popping up while playing music? There isn’t an audiobook section to load them into.

I got a quick response from “Overdrive” the software used to download audio books. I am now able to delete old audio books from my Zune. It is a little bit cumbersome, but will work until Miscrosoft gets the Zune software set up to fully support audio books.

My question to “Overdrive”:

I am very happy with the ease-of-use with Overdrive software.
I enjoy listening to audio books on my Zune. However, I am unable to figure out how to delete the books when I am done with them. Not only am I filling up my Zune, but I’m afraid I’m infringing on copyright laws pertaining to books downloaded from the public library. When I get the message that the lending period has expired, I delete it from my Overdrive Media Console, but am unable to delete it from my MP3 device. Microsoft Zune software doesn’t support audio books well and indicates removal should be done through the software used to download the audio books.

Their response:
Hello,

Unfortunately, currently there is no way to view the contents of the Zune other than using the Zune software. To delete the titles from your Zune you must use the OverDrive Media Console and follow the steps below:

1. Select any WMA title from your list and click ‘Transfer’
2. Once the transfer wizard pops-up select “Advanced Options”
3. After this windows comes up select ‘Browse’ This should take you to the contents of your Zune.

4. You will be able to either delete the entire folder or select each part one by one. After you have done one of the previously mentioned options ‘Right Click’ and select ‘Delete’

We are sorry for the inconvenience of this long process. We are hopeful that we will be able to fix this problem in the near future. Please let us know if we can provide further assistance or information. Thank you.

Sincerely,
The OverDrive Support Team

@Dan Jackson: Well, every other device except one. You can’t use the iPod Touch as a USB storage device either.

The first time I followed the steps to delete Overdrive files from my Zune it worked fine; I was able to clean up my device. But now when I get to the “Browse” step, no other files show up. Now what? I have several books I need to get rid of.

For those that see no files after you click on “Browse”, did you make sure that the book is still in the Overdrive list? If you’ve already deleted it, try downloading it again (which would require you to check it out again) to get it back onto the list, and then go back into “Browse” to see if those files show back up.