The "Audible Otis" at work
on the dashboard of Mike Booth's big rig |
Road
Trippin' with Otis
"That
Otis device just might be pretty good," said professional
trucker Michael Booth with
characteristic understatement. The Otis is a tiny 64 Mb portable
audio player that can hold up to 17 hours of voice or 2 hours
of music recordings. It can be used in conjunction with audio
programming available through Audible.com. Company representative
Jonathan Korzen introduced me to the Otis at this year's CES
show in Las Vegas and sent a complete package for testing
purposes. In addition to my own vehicle, I tried it out in
the cab of Mike's 2001 Freightliner Classic XL.
Audible.com
offers a remarkable array of audio material including current
bestsellers, articles from prominent newspapers and magazines,
radio shows, and recordings of famous speeches. Available
as downloadable files and via streaming technology, programs
can either be listened to from a PC or transferred to mobile
devices like the Otis. The files on the Otis can be listened
to by using ear buds or a cassette-shaped device that allows
playback through an ordinary dashboard cassette deck. As I
drove the back roads of southern Nevada, I listened to current
news articles read aloud from The New York Times, the
Wall Street Journal and Fast Company. I also listened
to an interview with Robin Williams and the syndicated radio
show Car Talk. One of the nice features of Audible.com's
offerings is their subscription service. You can select and
download programming at night and then take the Otis device
with you on a road trip the next day. Daily news digests from
newspapers can cost as little as .95 per day and monthly magazines
subscriptions run about $30.
Startup
is straightforward and relatively simple. In less then 35
minutes from the time I opened the package, I had fully installed
the software on my laptop. The installation software is designed
to launch a PC's default audio player, so that an audio file
describing the features of Audible.com plays during the installation
process. In my test, this feature remained silent and proved
to be the harbinger of a conflict between the Windows Media
Player and Real Player. This problem also precluded my ability
to hear streamed files play from Audible.com's servers. I
was able to restore this function by specifying Real Player
as the preferred device. The Otis device, at present, is not
being shipped with a DC/AC adapter (which should be available
in another few weeks) and is powered by two AAA batteries.
The batteries last about four hours with near-constant use.
More information is available at www.audible.com/buyaplayer.
When
Jonathan Korzen first showed us the Audible Otis, I thought
it was a natural for use by dashboarders and other professional
travelers. At the time, I was thinking in terms of audible
books like those offered by "Books on Tape." I knew
that many professional drivers like Mike Booth like to listen
to mysteries and westerns during the typical 100,000 miles
they drive each year. As it turns out, there are a number
of firms that have developed specialized offerings for these
driving professionals. Probably the most convenient services
are those offered by Books
In Motion. Like Audible.com, listeners can purchase novels,
but the delivery method is via cassette tapes. To make renting
easy for truckers, the company allows renters to pick up tapes
at one truck stop and return them at another. Depending on
the number of cassettes in a title, the rental rates range
from $6 to $14 per book. An eight cassette set, typical for
most bestsellers, represents 10 hours of recording and is
available for up to16 days for a rental of about $12.
Dialup
connections are not ideal for downloading audio files, but
they do work. Audible.com appears able to provide dashboarders
with material not available from any other service provider.
In my tests, I noticed a distinct low frequency hum while
using the cassette adapter that seemed to persist even with
the adjustments of the built-in software equalizer and the
external equalizer on my dashboard radio. I hope that later
versions will allow for some direct connection to the onboard
stereo system rather than relying on the less than ideal cassette
adapter.
In
a clear effort to be competitive with other companies marketing
audio services, Audible.com offers two monthly plans. Both
include a complete Otis package for $49 (less than half of
the regular price). For $13 a month, Basic Audio Listener
includes one audio book and one subscription to a service
such as a magazine, newspaper, or radio show. Premium Audio
Listener, at $16 a month, provides two audio books no matter
what the regular purchase price. Since the regular price for
many bestsellers exceeds $30, this represents a significant
savings.
Navigating
the Audible.com site requires a bit of persistence, but there
are many fine elements to explore. The range of audio recordings
available is immediately apparent on Audible.com's
home page.
It
seems likely that devices like the Otis will prove irresistible
to traveling professionals as well as holiday road trippers.
As you can see in the photograph, the Otis fits nicely onto
a big rig dashboard. Ease of connection and access to an impressive
range of audible material just may make Audible.com a natural
choice for dashboarders of every persuasion.
Mark
Sedenquist
Arcadia, CA
March 18, 2002
