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Anyone else bummed about the changes to Scribd today?


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They've moved from being a "Netflix" for audiobooks to a credit system like Audible.  1 credit per month =1 book per month at $8.99 per credit.  Their previous format of unlimited access to ALL the books was the reason we switched.  With 7 people in the family who constantly listen to audiobooks, it was a dream come true.

 

And with their glitchy app (and the fact that I can't quite figure out whether the $8.99 per credit/per month means I "own" the book or just have "full access" as their website states - access for how long??), I might just go back to Audible.  Audible has a stable app, and you definitely own the books you purchase and can download them to any device if you don't use the app.

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Guest tracidegan

I am so disappointed! I was hoping to use Scribd to read many of our history books this year. My library system doesn't have a lot of the books I want.

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I am so disappointed! I was hoping to use Scribd to read many of our history books this year. My library system doesn't have a lot of the books I want.

 

Me too.  I had a lovely library set up with all the books I planned for us to listen to sorted by time period and genre.  Ugh.

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Guest tracidegan

Does anyone here use Kindle Unlimited? What are your thoughts? Would that be a good alternative to Scribd? For some reason, I'm worried about the selection of books available.

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Does anyone here use Kindle Unlimited? What are your thoughts? Would that be a good alternative to Scribd? For some reason, I'm worried about the selection of books available.

 

It's my understanding that the changes to Scribd only affect audiobooks.  If you are using Scribd for e-books, nothing will change for you.

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Here's what they say:

 

"You can listen to it as many times as you want! As long as you're an active member, it will be fully available to you to enjoy whenever you wish without ever needing to use a credit to access it again."

 

Still not sure what we will decide to do. DH and DD1 were voracious Scribd audio users.

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Here's what they say:

 

"You can listen to it as many times as you want! As long as you're an active member, it will be fully available to you to enjoy whenever you wish without ever needing to use a credit to access it again."

 

Still not sure what we will decide to do. DH and DD1 were voracious Scribd audio users.

 

"As long as you're an active member"?  I think I will stick with Audible.  At least I know that I still own the books if I discontinue my membership.  That's worth the few extra $$ for me, as it isn't just me listening but little ones growing up who I want to be able to listen to certain titles eventually, etc.

 

But I'm also looking into Tales2Go.com.  Have you heard of, or used this one?  It is the same "Netflix" for audiobooks format as Scribd (was!) but is specifically for children and young adults.  They seem to have a lot of good titles, I saw Jim Weiss, a lot of historical fiction, tons of the great books you would find in the WTM lists, as well as a few of my kid's favourite books like Ranger's Apprentice, etc.  The app is pretty slick and fast too, and a lot easier to use than Scribd's app.

 

The cost is $99 per year, so that works out to be a little less per month than Scribd.  A downside for me is that you only get 5 licenses per account, but we have 8 folks with iPods/iPhones in the family!  So I am trying to find out if additional licenses can be purchased.

 

Anyways, we have signed up for the free trial and will see how it goes!

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The notice also says "You'll also have access to a rotating selection of thousands of audiobooks available for unlimited listening."

 

So it sounds like in addition to the one book a month there are also books that are always available.

 

Georgia

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The notice also says "You'll also have access to a rotating selection of thousands of audiobooks available for unlimited listening."

 

So it sounds like in addition to the one book a month there are also books that are always available.

 

Georgia

Yes, but the "always available" books are not the good ones we want to listen to. I have a library saved on Scribd of the books in our reading list and it is made almost entirely of books that will now require credits.

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I'm looking into Tales2go, but it looks like it doesn't download the whole book onto your device - just a portion of it. So, I couldn't put a book on a mp3 player that wasn't connected to the internet almost continuously. That's a no-go in my house.

 

I think we'll stick with Overdrive free through our library subscriptions.

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Yes, but the "always available" books are not the good ones we want to listen to. I have a library saved on Scribd of the books in our reading list and it is made almost entirely of books that will now require credits.

Also...rotating? We put our kids to bed with a small selection of their favourite books. Heaven forbid of one suddenly rotated out of the pool. Although...I think most of them are credit worthy right now.

 

And yes, "as long as you are an active member."

 

Honestly, I'm on screen 5 of the unsub process. It's a looooong one.

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Yes, but the "always available" books are not the good ones we want to listen to. I have a library saved on Scribd of the books in our reading list and it is made almost entirely of books that will now require credits.

 

Bummer. 

 

I have listened to one audio in all the time I have had a subscription, lol. Read mega amounts of books, though and the app works well on my Nexus. 

 

If the rotating books are not what you will use then yeah, definitely not worth the money unless you are also reading substantial amounts of books.

 

I still have a lot of books from Audible, many of which certain children needed for specific classes but just could not bear to read. The Old Man and the Sea anyone?

 

My last kid at home uses Librivox, but she listens to a lot of old stuff so it might not be helpful.

 

Georgia

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Bummer.

 

I have listened to one audio in all the time I have had a subscription, lol. Read mega amounts of books, though and the app works well on my Nexus.

 

If the rotating books are not what you will use then yeah, definitely not worth the money unless you are also reading substantial amounts of books.

 

I still have a lot of books from Audible, many of which certain children needed for specific classes but just could not bear to read. The Old Man and the Sea anyone?

 

My last kid at home uses Librivox, but she listens to a lot of old stuff so it might not be helpful.

 

Georgia

Thanks, Georgia. We don't use the ebooks at all - Scribd would be a good deal for us if we did!

 

We have a large Audible library as well - and I guess we'll be back to adding to it. I've also downloaded a lot of books from Librivox to our iPods. We are voracious audiobook listeners here.

 

(And no, Overdrive isn't an option if anyone is wondering. My library doesn't have it and the audiobook service it does have has hardly any books on it. Seriously, it has only had ONE book I've ever looked for.)

 

Hoping Tales2go combined with Audible fits our needs!

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"As long as you're an active member"?  I think I will stick with Audible.  At least I know that I still own the books if I discontinue my membership.  That's worth the few extra $$ for me, as it isn't just me listening but little ones growing up who I want to be able to listen to certain titles eventually, etc.

 

Agreed. I was first an audible member WAY back (late 90s, maybe? I login with a username not an email). I have not been a regularly paying member at this point in YEARS. Nor does the original hardware I used to listen to audible stuff even still existent. I am still perfectly able to download the app on my iphone and download books I bought through them to still listen to. (Or even buy the occasional new book)  Currently I'm listening to _Time and Again_ which I purchased in 2003.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is such a disappointment.  We listen to loads of audiobooks.  We are in the middle of a few right now, and it will be really annoying if they disappear.  Any idea how that will work?  If we are right in the middle of a long book, and it is stored to my device, will it just disappear on 9/20? If that's the case, I'm unsubscribing.  :(

 

It's only our third month, I think, with scribd.  I was so excited to find it.

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