When having to choose between physical media and modern “digital only” storefronts and streaming, my decision is easy and clear: Physical!
As so often I’m representing a small minority here. But yesterday I saw my point of view confirmed once again. I wanted to hear an audio drama for children. Got the first two episodes cheaply on CD while buying groceries at Aldi. How about episode 3? Boy, those CDs filled only with 55 to 60 minutes are expensive. About 7€ to 8€ each and shipping costs extra. That is too much. Content worth some money? Yes. But this is too much.
But the publisher/producer proudly links to half a dozen streaming providers offering everything and more… for absolutely free. Seems LittleSinchen is an unprogressive, antiquated, backward and stubborn dumbass with her stupid, expensive CDs.
Enough already!
Maybe I’m just too dumb to use streaming. Everybody and their dog is happy with it.
I'm not against paying. I pay for the content I want. But I can’t even get free streaming to work on any PC or phone. Why should I consider paying for this non-working mess?
I’ve encountered a ton of problems with DRM infected PC games. Protected CDs/DVDs are a nightmare. But I have always been able to
Hope to find the CDs for a good price at some point. That will work!
As so often I’m representing a small minority here. But yesterday I saw my point of view confirmed once again. I wanted to hear an audio drama for children. Got the first two episodes cheaply on CD while buying groceries at Aldi. How about episode 3? Boy, those CDs filled only with 55 to 60 minutes are expensive. About 7€ to 8€ each and shipping costs extra. That is too much. Content worth some money? Yes. But this is too much.
But the publisher/producer proudly links to half a dozen streaming providers offering everything and more… for absolutely free. Seems LittleSinchen is an unprogressive, antiquated, backward and stubborn dumbass with her stupid, expensive CDs.
Spotify
I have streamed some audio books with Spotify (free version) in the past. Worked okayish. Somehow. Often problems to get the thing started, but once it started, I could hear (and record with Audacity). Getting rid of the few ads afterwards took a minute. At some point the number of ads went mad. Every five minutes the same thing (almost always the same reminder to buy premium access and no actual ads) so I stopped Spotify altogether. Until yesterday. I wanted to hear that thing, even with a ton of ads.
Long story short: Does not work. Spotify now only allows random order without paying (great for audio drama) and it plays just 9 seconds of each title before falling silent (while the browser seemingly still plays judging from the increasing playing time). I tried 15 minutes. All I got to hear was ads. Nothing else. The content would play randomly and only 9 seconds.
But they have a special offer right now: Trying premium access three months free! That’s a good deal! Clicked on “Start Free Trial Now!” → “Enter your credit card number!”
You know what, Spotify? Go and f… yourself!
Amazon Music
Boldly claiming: “Free. No subscription. No credit card required.”
Yeah! That is better. Logged into my Amazon account. Searched for the content, clicked on ▶ and… got an error. Just “Error. Try again or contact support.” For all of the titles. Something wrong with my PC? Or the browser? DRM not working?
Clicked on some random garbage music → Plays noisy music instantly.
Clicked on audio drama → Error.
You know what, Amazon? Go and f… yourself!
Onleihe (online + leihen → borrow online) – Public Library
They are working together with Tigerbooks. This service offers content for children. You can make paid subscriptions, they have special hardware as well. But they also work with the public library system. Manual sounds simple enough:
- Download proprietary app
- Tap on “Log in with public library”
- Select region, city and library
- Log in with your Onleihe credentials
- Borrow available media
You can’t go wrong with free and official public library access! Why didn’t I try this directly? Maybe because step 4 does not work. It logs in, offers a “Start browsing” button and goes back right to the login step 2. Rinse and repeat. The login seemingly works. Providing wrong password leads to an error message.
You know what, Tigerbooks? Go and f… yourself!
Enough already!
Maybe I’m just too dumb to use streaming. Everybody and their dog is happy with it.
I'm not against paying. I pay for the content I want. But I can’t even get free streaming to work on any PC or phone. Why should I consider paying for this non-working mess?
I’ve encountered a ton of problems with DRM infected PC games. Protected CDs/DVDs are a nightmare. But I have always been able to
a) Use the content somehow (I've enough drives…)
b) Copy the expensive stuff I bought despite stupid protections
Hope to find the CDs for a good price at some point. That will work!
