I don't understand how anybody can make such a statement as that the NLS web site will "blow away" Audible. NLS has a history of never re-issuing books originally produced in one audio medium in the next generation medium, except for a relatively small number of Talking Book recordings that had originally been recorded on the old 33 1/3 recordings once the slower 16 2/3 format was introduced. They _never_ re-issued any of the old classic Talking Book recordings, even though they retained master copies of all titles, on tape once cassettes came into use, so if anyone expects that previously released titles will become available in digital form, I feel fairly safe (based on over 50 years as a customer of NLS and its predecessor, the Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, as well as having worked in the NLS system at one time as head of two different regional libraries) in saying that this isn't going to happen. Given the relatively tiny number of new titles (even contrasted with Audible) that NLS releases every year in audio format, it will take years before the NLS digital audio collection can be said to rival Audible. The great thing is that once the switch to digital takes place, every title should remain available in pristine condition forever, which certainly was never the case with cassettes, even though that should not have been the case. In short, I think that claiming that the NLS site will ever rival Audible during the lifetime of anyone subscribed to this list is just a pipe dream. Also, what possible evidence is there that the current normal delay of approximately a year from book publication to NLS availability will ever be reduced? This has been a problem with respect to audio materials ever since I first used the program in 1955. There have been a _tiny_ number of exceptions--the best-known being the Warren Commission report on the Kennedy assassination--but the very fact that they were so exceptional merely proves the rule. Nothing having to do with digital is going to speed up this process because there is essentially little difference between the production of cassette and digital materials from the point of view of selecting the material, assigning it to a studio, and getting the master recording back. By the way, does anybody actually _know_ if, once digital becomes a reality, the masters will be recorded digitally rather than on analog tape? That, alone, could speed up the time currently lost between studio production and availability to readers. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jamie Pauls" <jamiepauls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, November 06, 2006 11:58 AM Subject: [bookport] Re: NLS Beta Program You say that the NLS download site will blow away Audible. If books aren't produced in more of a timely fashion than they have in the past, Audible will still be the place to get Culture Warrior the day it is released. A bit off topic I suppose; just couldn't resist throwing in my two cents. Perhaps NLS will be able to speed up the release of new books when everything goes digital.