Permadeals (Prime benefits, shoprunner, netflix, streaming video, freebies, daily book info and deals, etc)
12This is the thread for stuff that is free or a good buy or a nice benefit more or less every day.
This is the place to ask questions, discuss services, and post links worth visiting frequently.
Starting, I suppose, with the biggest dog in the space, Amazon. And Amazon Prime. And Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
Amazon Prime reading
https://smile.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/prime-pr
This is the site for books/magazines/comics/audiobooks that are free through having an Amazon Prime account.
If you chose to pay monthly for “Amazon Unlimited” on your account, the no-extra charge selection gets a lot bigger.
If a given book title is part of either the Prime benefits or the Unlimited benefits, and the book also has an audiobook version linked to the e-book by Amazon’s Whispersync-For-Voice, the audiobook is also available at no extra charge.
More info on the Kindle Unlimited Program here:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1002872331&sa-no-redirect=1
As everyone knows, Amazon throws in loads of other media goodies in having a Prime account.
Amazon Prime Music
Free Amazon Prime Music benefits are here:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/promotions/PrimeMusic?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=192500981649&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1728714659791279912&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_52x3zvgz1j_e&hvtargid=kwd-46622012286&sa-no-redirect=1
Amazon also has a music monthly pay subscription service, similar, I suppose, to Spotify or to Youtube Red. It contains a much larger selection of music at no extra charge.
Info on Amazon Unlimited Music is here:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/dmusic/promotions/AmazonMusicUnlimited
Prime members get a 20% discount on the monthly fee if they subscribe to Amazon Unlimited Music.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon also offers a decent selection of streaming movies and tv at no extra charge to Prime accountholders.
https://smile.amazon.com/Prime-Video/b?node=2676882011&sa-no-redirect=1
Right now Amazon does not seem to offer an upgrade that lets you pay an extra monthly fee and get access to a much larger selection of video content. I would not be surprised to see them offer that in the future tho.
_
Amazon Prime Audible benefits
There is also a nice additional selection of audiobooks, audio news and podcasts (from noteworthy sources), and other audio content available from Audible.com for anyone who has a Prime account with Amazon.
AFAIK, the best way to access all this content is to download the Audible app to a mobile device or tablet, and then look around the the menus (under “CHANNELS”) to see what they have. Some of the content is always there; other content (full unabridged audiobooks) changes out by the month.
Gaming: Does Amazon Prime having gaming or software benefits? I have no idea, but I would no be surprised.
Apps
Amazon offers free Android Apps under the Amazon Underground program.
More to come, I hope:
There’s more, but that’s a start. BTW this thread is not supposed to only be about Amazon. Let’s hope not. They’re the big dog, not the only dog.
Any reasonable source for goods and services where there are very decent bargains and deals (or sources of free stuff) all or most of the time is fair game here: especially
-Project Gutenberg,
-the local library,
-book sharing and lending communities,
-great internet sources of media info (librarything, goodreads, [is shelfari still around?]),
-library apps such as Hoopla and Overdrive,
-Librivox,
-possibly Texture (what do the people say re Texture?),
-good podcasts (most of these are free),
-great internet sources of info about devices used to consume media (mobileread forums for instance),
-Netflix, Vudu, Hulu, cordcutter versions of HBO/Showtime, etc.
-Sling, Vue, Youtube TV, DirecTV Now, and more to come,
-good bargains on quality news sources
-etc, and anything similar.
Lots of thanks to many of you for pointing out great stuff and resources. Hey, shoutout in particular to @OldCatLady! Her about book and library resources and info is what made me think we need a dedicated topic for this.
Also this thread is not supposed to be only about books or media or entertainment. Anything from cheap propane to cheap dentistry to cheap tech seems good, as long as it’s not a time limited discount on a specific item or category; those time limited listings should go into the current monthly deals topic, I hope.
- 17 comments, 52 replies
- Comment
Hey, @Thumperchick, @Woodhouse, etc, don’t I get a topic picture for the header?
@f00l You’ve used your allotment of free header images. To add more, get Meh Pro ™ for just $199.99 per month.
@woodhouse
Ok sure. Lemme decide which emergency fund to use in posting that fee.
In the meantime, temporarily credit me the $199.99 for the first month. And use the image below as the topic header image, ok?
@f00l Who should I make the $199.99 check out to-- wait a minute, you’re trying to pull fast one on me!
paging @thumperchick because I don’t know how to forum
@f00l I’ll take my usual bribe - you know where to send it.
THANKS @f00l !
@therealjrn
I know some people around here know a lot about vehicles, house maintenance, gardening and yard stuff, I know absolutely nothing about any of that.
I really hope to see some “tips and techniques from the non-clueless” here. If the practical stuff gets enough activity, it can get split up into its own topic or something. Mostly, I wanted a place where people could think “now where did I read about whatever?” and perhaps it would be here, and easy to find.
Also, If really useful stuff gets mentioned elsewhere, someone could pop a link to that here, instead of repeating everything.
Should every main post have a header (“Amazon Prime Video”, “propane”, “fertilizer”)? So if that if thread gets long, it’s easy to find the one you’re looking for? Or is that way too much work for people to care about and remember?
@f00l what kind of stuff are you trying to learn from the “non clueless” specifically?
@RiotDemon
Whatever comes up.
How to live like 1st world billionaires or 1st world royalty (serious reigning royalty with crowns and state coaches and nice art collections/racing stables/wine cellars and everything) on $5/day would be a good start.
But I hoped it would be spontaneous. I don’t usually think about what I don’t know, in practical daily life, that I need to know, until it crisis arrives.
So I just hoped people would toss out ideas or questions and we could be a group resource.
Not to mention a bunch of book and media and info resources for all.
You got anything special you want to offer, or want to know? (Can’t help with the humidity or the love bugs, sorry.)
@f00l For free advice for home ownership and maintenance I like Danny Lipford’s https://www.todayshomeowner.com/ I found the “4 Seasons of Home Ownership” especially helpful.
Here’s your gaming Amazon prime benefit: https://twitch.amazon.com/prime
@djslack Another gaming benefit from Prime is 20% off pre-orders/ new release(within 2 weeks of release) video games.
you must work for amacrap
@Cerridwyn
I do not. And I’m not promoting them.
I have Prime attached to my account. Think what you like regarding that. Prime does come with a notable set of digital media resources attached.
I started with Amazon, because they are the biggest player in bundling all sorts of media benefits together with other perks, for an annual fee. And because books. My biggest interest is prob books, with a lesser focus on other media. Amazon sells books and e-books, and if one is a compulsive reader, you can get a lot for your $.
Yeah, I know, they are strangling out the local booksellers and all. Except that mostly already happened, and except I still buy quite a bit from various local Half Price Book locations, which is, in my situation, locally owned (I was spending way too much money there decades before they opened their first satellite store.)
And there is at least one other non-chain bookstore I must make myself not visit too often, lest I be broke.
And except that I purchase many books from Ebay or from non-Amazon-storefront and non-Amazon-owned sources.
People want to know what the resources and deals are. They can make their own decisions as to whether to order from Amazon, or from any other vendor.
@f00l actually, I have used an e-reader since before Bezo’s even dreamed there was a market. Mostly originally for the weight in travel. it had lighting better than any non LCD reader on the market before or since. (Sony again ahead of it’s time and out of the market when lesser competitors sold for less.) I never even considered a kindle when it went down to 2.5 players in the market (kobo is the 1/2) because i have always liked being able to side load when and where i want. I was also using color before the fire was even lit.
I don’t shop there because of it’s business practices. I’ts huge tax revenue in the overall area that i live in. they even do their own delivery, no mail anymore. but just like when i didn’t eat grapes or didn’t eat at Carls or didn’t buy Nestles, it’s a personal moral choice.
And you sing its praises like someone who gets a paycheck from them.
@Cerridwyn
That’s flat-out wrong.
But think what you like. Read into my words whatever you believe is implied there or wish to justify, given how I stated things. .
I believe this is a misunderstanding between us. (You may think otherwise; I acknowledge that.)
I suppose, either way, these small comments between us matter little, or nothing at all, to either one of us.
@f00l
/giphy shill
@medz
@f00l I love Amacrap
Thanks @f00l for taking the time to write all that. Very cool of you & useful information for me for sure. I swear I learn more on the forums here than I do practically anywhere else about where to get things, where/when not to & a bunch of other misc, random helpful/almost always entertaining info. Thanks Meh ! ☺~ Amy
@Amila99
There are plenty of other book resources and book deals, some from Ama-eat-the-universe, some from other resources. BUt that post was already getting way too long, and I kinda wanted to drop as many as possible of the Amazon Prime and subscription media benefits as possible into one post.
So I and I hope others will post much more on books soonish.
We have a pretty active set of booklovers here. Much of what I know of various book-related deals, I learned here.
There are deals on Netflix. Watch for GC sales that include Netflix specifically. Most don’t. Target, CVS, and Best Buy have had GC sales that discount Netflix GCs.
I stock up and get a year’s worth, load it into the account, and it simply deducts the fee from your credit balance.
I’ve gotten 20-30% off shopping carefully.
@mike808
Good to know. Had heard of people doing that, but had not tried it myself.
@mike808 I’m probably going to sound real stupid, but what are GC sales?
@mehbee
Gift card
@mehbee Thanks for asking, I couldn’t figure it out either.
Also whenever Amazon has their “Give the gift of Prime” sale on prime memberships, you can “gift” them to yourself. Set them to deliver before your current prime expires, let it lapse, then reinstate with the prime GC token. Or email them right away, and store for later yourself.
Got 5 years worth back when it was $79/yr.
You can’t apply a prime gift to an active prime account. Thats why you have to wait until your prime lapses one day.
Also, you cannot pay for prime with credits.
@mike808 Is there anything I might lose if I let my Prime lapse by a day? Stored lists, data of any kind?
@magic_cave Not that I could tell. You just don’t get Prime benefits any more.
For me I noticed the prime video was gone. I don’t know if it impacts Prime benefits at other services like Twitch. I don’t see why you couldn’t just re-link the account if not.
Make sure you set your Prime to NOT auto-renew. It’s buried in the prime settings, but you want it to lapse. So you can use your “gift of Prime”.
Don’t overlook the coupon and rebate sites when you shop online, such as ebates.com, fatwallet.com, retailmenot.com, dealcatcher.com and couponcabin.com, to name just a few. I never buy anything online without checking them first. I’ve gotten over $400 cashback so far from ebates. Obviously I have a shopping problem.
@heartny I LOVE ebates.com. I current have a balance of 63.00 that I will get on my next check and I hope to make it more by the time the check cutes. My lifte time case back since Feb of last year is 144.86 and that’s just from shopping, I mean something I do anyway. I also like Ibotta.com. It does take a little more work but if you make your grocery list and have the app up as you make it, you can make some money. I think I started early last year and ended up having over 50.00 that I got back in an Amazon gift card that I used toward Christmas presents. I obviously have a shopping problem also and I will be looking at the other ones you listed!
@mehbee @heartny
I tried ebates, but never seemed to like dealing with checks.
I use Topcashback, and while they may have some slightly lower percentages, at least I can redeem via PayPal or different gift cards (with bonuses if I choose gc checkout).
Either way though, using a cashback site is handy.
@PlacidPenguin Sometimes ebates sends an email asking if I want to convert my rebate to an Amazon gift card, which I readily accept. I’m not sure why I get that offer and other times I get a check. I’d much prefer the Amazon option.
@heartny
Do they offer a bonus if you choose that option?
@PlacidPenguin I vaguely remember years ago they did add a bonus amount if you took that option, but I haven’t seen anything like that lately. Now a check randomly shows up in the mail and I do a mobile deposit with my phone because I’m too lazy-assed to go to the bank to deposit a $5 check.
@PlacidPenguin last I saw you could set up direct deposit on ebates
@PlacidPenguin ebates has the PayPal option now if that’s where you prefer them to send your money. I refer the checks, especially since I can use an app on my phone to deposit them. Ibotta is all gift cards I do believe.
If you are a gamer like myself, I highly recommend the Best Buy Gamer’s Club. It is $30 for 2 years. You get 20% off all games. That includes the collector editions and used games, too. On top of the discount, Best Buy also gives $10 gift certificates for pre-ordering select games. They tend to be all the ones that are coming out around the holidays. Sometimes you get free items, too. I received a free Gears of War 4 coaster and mug set when I bought the game. It is definitely the best deal going. I love it and tell everyone about it.
If you don’t mind getting email from CNET, you can sign up at The Cheapskate or just check the blog daily for deals, some of them from meh.
For PC gamers with a Steam account, good deals (sometimes free) on games can be found at Humble Bundle (they also have software, books, and graphic novels) and also at GOG.com
Another thing Steam will let you do is borrow games from your friends. There doesn’t seem to be any time limit on the loan.
Amazon shoppers should always be using either camelcamelcamel or honey to price check and find coupons. (honey is a Chrome extension.)
@2many2no
I don’t game, but somehow I own a bunch of games from HumbleBundle and also directly from Steam. Prob because someone told me it was awesome and I went along.
Doesn’t Steam do killer sales twice a year, sales that go on for a while?
One after Xmas thru early January; and one that starts in May or June?
(Like, possibly, Right Now? Or not right now?)
And the discounts are extreme, and they do lots of flash sales of specific games, and if you are much prone to yielding to temptation, you might wind up owning a bunch of games you will never play, but at least you didn’t spend much for the games?
As I recall, there’s a true art to shopping these sales, based on accumulated crowd knowledge of Steam’s past sales. I think you can get a lot of info on shopping strategy on Slickdeals.net threads for this sort of thing.
I think Steam also runs a free WOW-like game of some sort that’s very popular?
@f00l As a matter of fact, the Steam Summer Sale runs until July 5th. I don’t really know how much better their twice a year “big” sales are than the weekly specials, maybe just more games available.
They have a number of “free-to-play” online games that seem to follow the micro-purchase model. You don’t have to spend money, but the temptation is always there if you really get into the game.
I have many games I play only rarely or occasionally, but only a few that I play often or actually all the way through. I enjoy the play, but I’m terrible at it. In online games, I’m the guy that dies over and over.
If you have an old .edu account, you can get Amazon Prime for free for 6 months, and then half price for another six months.
@DVDBZN The half price student Prime is for a full year, and will continue at half price for up to 4 years. Student Prime also has the added benefit of free release day delivery on books, music, and video games.
@DVDBZN I used that for the last few years but it finally is over. I’m OK with that given what value I still get.
The unfortunate part of the Prime Student rate is that they don’t offer Amazon Family benefits, so the diaper subscription, for instance, isn’t available. I never understood that one: if you have infants/toddlers in school, you’d be the one who could benefit the most from that perk.
@metaphore Actually, it’s up to six years, depending on what year you tell them you’re graduating. I’m on year five.
@OldCatLady
I used up my 4 edu years a decade ago.
I don’t think they asked when I was graduating, back then. They just threw me off the discount after 4 years.
I liked having it at that price, I must say.
@f00l Ah, well, the ‘free’ courses for senior citizens at Florida state universities get you an .edu address. One course or twenty, it doesn’t matter.
@OldCatLady really? Got a link? I know someone that might want to take some free courses.
@RiotDemon Here’s one. Each university has its own variant. http://uwf.edu/offices/registrar/tuition–fees/senior-citizen-tuition-waiver/
@OldCatLady thanks!
@OldCatLady I signed up with my edu email a year or 2 back saying I was graduating in 4 years. I’m nearly to my subscription date and they sent an email requesting proof of enrollment recently. They wanted a class schedule, tuition bill, etc.
New and used hard copy books:
First, I hope we all still hang out at our local bookstores. Even if it’s BN.
Internet:
The big dog first (does this make me an Amazon shill? Whatever):
Amazon sells used books, a few from its own warehouse inventory, and, if my impressions are correct, most of the used books are from third party booksellers who have Amazon storefronts.
Many of the larger Amazon storefronts are charities; I have bought enough from them over the years to have gotten to know a little of their purposes. Many of them sell donated books.
Also plenty of local and small independent bookstores that are still alive have Amazon storefronts.
These usually charge around $3.99 shipping for a normal-sized book. Unfortunately, Amazon does not have a setup that allows bundling of shipments from a single seller to save shipping fees for the customer.
Here are some national or regional chains, and a few notable standalone bookstores:
-Barnes and Noble (everywhere?)
-Books-A-Million (32 states)
-Tattered Cover (Denver and Colorado)
-Haslam’s Bookstore (St Pete, Florida)
-Strand Bookstore (Manhattan)
-Powell’s Bookstore (Portland, Oregon)
-Half Price Books (flagship store, Dallas, 17 states)
There are plenty of other great local bookstores.
If you happen to be in NYC, Boston/Cambridge, SF; or in the UK, in London, Oxford, Cambridge, you are in bookstore paradise. All those places have anonymous, and also famous bookstores that yet live. Most of these will ship anywhere in the world, more or less. There’s nothing wrong with going to a city of great bookstores for the purpose of being a bookstore tourist.
Many of the larger and more famous bookstores I listed above also sell used books on their websites, in a manner similar to Amazon; they encourage other booksellers and home businesspersons to create storefronts. Some of these bookstores sell large inventories of used books in their retail locations as well. If you live near any one of these, or near any decent brick and mortar bookstore, I hope you are a happy and frequent visitor to the store.
Ebay has a very active book section, and can be a very good place to search for rare and foreign books. Half.com isn’t so great for rare stuff, but can be worth checking out. On both Ebay and Half.com, the books are actually sold by third parties just as a collector glassware or usb cables would be.
I have prob bought more used books not I couldn’t find locally from Ebay than from any other store or outlet over the last decade, and I’ve never had a problem with a book purchase.
I have a real thing for used books. Unless it’s a first edition or collectible, or there’s some special reason to want it pristine, I prefer used, not just because of price. I don’t know why. Just some inner weirdness.
The only place to be really wary with Ebay is regarding extremely rare and collectible books (make sure to compare with sellers elsewhere), or autographed copies. I have asked some sellers some questions on some Ebay autographed book listings I where I had some evidence to believe the autographs might be fakes. In all cases but one, the listing promptly disappeared. In the one case, the seller provided reasonable proof the the autograph was genuine. (Forged autographs are a constant problem on Ebay in all collectible categories.)
Aggregator bookseller sites other than those above:
Alibris.com
Bookfinder.com
AbeBooks.com
These may be the biggest ones: they are what I usually use. I love these, in part, because I always visualize the actual bookseller.
They are all aggregate listing sites for third-party booksellers round the world.
Amazon bought AbeBooks in 2008, so if you object to doing business with Amazon, avoid AbeBooks.
I purchase more books thru searches on Bookfinder than through similar searches on Alibris - I think I get better search results, and it’s easier to keep separate editions of the same book distinct. Bookfinder also picks up books only for sale by a storefront on one of the non-US Amazon sites (IE you may get your only offering from Amazon.ca or similar, using Bookfinder. This can save a lot of time if something is hard to find.
But Bookfinder.com handles only books, not other media; and they can be frustrating if you are searching for a cd or cassette version of an audiobook. (very difficult to get the info an audiobook buyer might want.)
Alibris and Abebooks both sell assorted music, video, etc, so if you are looking for non-book media, skip Bookfinder.
Small bookseller frequently put the same book on Amazon, BN, other storefronts like BooksAMillion, and also Alibris, Ebay, AbeBooks, and Bookfinder all at once. They have software that cancels the other listings if the book sells on one platform, I guess.
If you are looking for rare comics, magazine and newspaper back-issues, really rare music or films, there are websites that specialize in these. I don’t know the names; when I want something like that, I just google around for “back issue magazines” or similar.
Ebay sells many back-issue collectibles of magazines, newspapers, vintage and rare music, and rare copies of video also.
Ebay, Alibris, Bookfinder, and AbeBooks all make it very easy to do a worldwide search. Once in a while you want something rare, and here and in Canada or Europe, it’s sky-high $, but for some reason there’s one cheap in Japan or Morocco or someplace. On Ebay, you have to manually set the search parameters to worldwide. The others all default to a worldwide search, if I remember.
(Alibris, Bookfinder, Abebooks, and Paypal [for Ebay/Half.com] will handle any foreign currency exchanges; for most book and media items, the tiny extra cost is not a big deal.)
If you want something you simply cannot find at all, it can be worth going to each individual Amazon country sites and searching. I have found a few rare things for friends that way.
(Whatever Amazon account login you use in the US will be good on the foreign Amazon shopping sites, but you have to logon and purchase on each site separately. Amazon will do the currency exchanges, if you don’t have a better way to do them. Yeah, they charge for the exchange, but if all you are buying is a book or cd or film, it’s prob not worth the trouble of setting up another method.)
(Currently, Amazon offers separate retail websites for the
United States
United Kingdom and Ireland
France,
Canada (English and French)
Germany (German, Dutch, Polish, Turkish)
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Australia
Brazil
Japan
China
India
Mexico
(Google translate can handle most of what it takes to make a web purchase on these foreign Amazon sites, so long as you check the exchange rates.)
I’ve even managed to shop the Amazon websites in Japan and China that way, and purchased something-or-other from Amazon Japan once, and it all went ok.
(I can’t remember what I bought. Too far into the past.)
I have simply never had a problem with a book or media purchase on any of these sites, including books and media shipped from abroad (shipping can take a while).
It seems that booksellers are, by and large, trustworthy folk.
Enuf for now ; )
@f00l You just sent me down a whole warren of new rabbit holes on books. Thanks entirely too much.
@f00l Dude, shill away…I freaking love Amazon. I can find almost anything I need and I can usually find it at a less expensive price and have it in 2 days time. I’m sure they do things that suck, most big businesses do something that sucks, but as long as they are doing anything criminal, I’m going to continue to order from them. There, I’ve said my shilling piece about it. Thank you for this thread. I’ve already found a couple of apps or sites that are useful!!
@OldCatLady
Books and book purchasing:
I’m kinda evil about it.
Sorry to ruin your life.
Or
Happy to give your new resources and places to shop for books.
Whatever fits, right?
More stuff as yet un-posted, of course.
EVIL BOOKS!
Mine Mine Mine!
Just be random here.
Guess whether or not I own too many books.
Now come on. Just guess.
(Some of the older Half Price Book locations look a lot like this.)
No comment on the state of my book organizing, or lack thereof.
Zero.
Zip.
/giphy "no comment"
@f00l Our library sells used books that they are getting rid of or that have been donated.
E-media, and US and non-US publishing-rights weirdness:
You cannot purchase e-books, downloadable audiobooks, films, video, etc, from non-US sites. This is a matter of international publishing contracts and international law.
The sellers or e-media will face lawsuits and have their contracts with publishers challenged if they don’t enforce this.
[Or they do this because they’re evil. I’m not the expert.]
Whatever the reason, going around the geographic restrictions probably won’t work.
This can be pretty annoying, but there’s no practical way around it.
Sometimes there are great deals on a foreign site for e-media that’s at full price here.
Sometimes a foreign site has e-media that isn’t even for sale here, even from a “name” author or artist.
(I have seen audiobooks I wanted, for sale on Audible.co.uk, that were not forsale as downloadable media from Audible.com or any digital audiobook site in the US.)
It’s a matter of rights; the publisher sold the digital rights to Audible.co.uk and others in the UK, but either the UK publisher or the US stateside publisher here did not sell the digital audiobook rights to anyone here.
So: you want the audiobook, your legal options are cd’s and cassettes; which may be expensive or hard to find. Sometimes the best way to get something is through your library, even if you have to wait a long time for Inter Library Loan to come through for your audiobook.
Trying to circumvent these geographic restrictions is not a great idea. You would have to use a vpn to connect from a local-to-that-region exit ip to digital site; you would have to acquire a credit or debit card from a bank in that sales region; and you would have to have a local shipping address and your local debit or credit card would need a local billing address.
And you still might get caught, in which case your ownership rights are terminated, probably your $ is refunded, and you’re banned from the site.
(Supposedly this has happened in Europe, where persons who could have purchased e-books from their local Amazon site spoofed everything in order to buy e-books from the US and UK sites. And then supposedly they got caught, don’t know if they were refunded, and their accounts were closed permanently. No idea is this is urban legend or not.)
There are weird lack-of-digital-rights problems for digital books with many book series; for some reason, esp mystery book series.
Say, 17 books in a series, and you can’t purchase either the e-book or the digital audiobook for three of the series somewhere in the middle. This often means either the publishers is either in financial straits, or for some reason is hanging back (I have heard of publishers doing this to penalize writers, no idea if true).
I know of confirmed stories of publishing-rights holders going through bankruptcy, and until they came out of bankruptcy and their assets and rights were sold or distributed by the court, no digital copies could be sold (altho if you have previously purchased a digital copy, you could still download the e-book or audiobook).
Also, digital books that were available for purchase for a time sometimes vanish from a catalog for legal of other inexplicable reasons.
Who knows what’s going on? The publishing industry is, to me at least, a murky beast.
(Once again, if you previously purchased a digital copy of a book, you still own and can access it. Only, new people can’t buy it.)
Among the first audiobooks I purchased from Audible were the various audiobooks and radio-play recordings of Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide series.
Then rights went into limbo. I owned and could still download/play my copies, but new shoppers could not buy. After a while, they re-appeared from a new publisher, same recordings, re-mastered, different editions, somewhat different pricing.
This seems to happen more often with audiobooks and other audio content than with e-books.
The audio content publishing industry is now operated by the regular publishing companies, but a lot of book publishers used to contract the audiobook production rights out, and perhaps many of the audiobook specialty companies were small and financially vulnerable.
That’s just a guess; I don’t really know why I’ve seen digital audiobooks books for sale listings vanish and reappear so often.
@f00l It’s a mess because publishers are trying to sqeeze that last drop of blood from the turnip of the Public Domain from which they’ve borrowed a monopoly right.
They pretend we wouldn’t have Shakespeare, Mozart, or Leonardo da Vinci without their precious copyright. So they make up ransoms to hold knowledge hostage from us all.
@mike808
For e-books and audiobooks out of legal copyright, check Project Gutenberg, Librivox and archive.org.
Most of the audiobooks (where I’ve had problems buying digital versions or where the book went in and out of availability) were fairly recent books, published in the last 30-50 years or so. They went in and out of availability due to publishing industry weirdness, since it’s in the publisher’s interest to keep the book available.
To me, some degree of copyright is reasonable. However, our current laws were written, I believe, specifically for the benefit of Disney.
For digital books, audiobooks, music, video, there are free and legal ways, or low-cost ways, to enjoy a lot of this media.
That’s for a later post. If I write up what I know, I need to gather some details first.
@OldCatLady
Free education for seniors in Florida and elsewhere:
This is great info for this topic.
People who know what’s up in other states, please post their info as a reply here.
Do you have to be a Fl resident?
Over 65?
Do they let you do any course, or just certain courses?
Do they let you get grades, or audit, or both?
Is there a limit on how many free academic hours you get?
Can you do this at any state school, or are some special schools exempt?
Do all the schools who accept you as a student allow internet access to the course?
Do some schools make you attend in person, or not offer internet coursework at all in the first place?
If you take the course non-audit, do you get grades with a regular transcript? So that you could transfer or pursue a degree seriously if you wished?
Can you use this program to to get a degree from a “name” school if you wish, and can get admitted, and can do the program?
I think TX has something like this, but possibly rather restricted. I haven’t looked into it yet.
What else am I not thinking to ask?
@f00l Do you have to physically go to the school to get a student ID? Since you have to wait to select classes until after all ‘paying’ students have signed up, do you really think you’ll have a wide choice of classes? Do you know you should choose the largest university with the largest selection of courses for ‘distance learning’?
@f00l If you don’t care about the credit but would just be happy learning from one of the world’s best:
MITOPENCOURSEWARE
@f00l Oh, and do you realize that only tuition is waived? Books are your responsibility, as are lab fees, initial school registration, on-campus parking passes etc. Your computer and your software must meet school guidelines. Library access may be limited to reading while you’re physically there- no checkout privileges. I did, however, get access to the remote login for databases and newspapers, for the time I was enrolled. (Many schools give lifetime access to their graduates.) Open courseware and MOOCs turned out to be a better fit for me.
@2many2no For MOOCs in general: https://www.mooc-list.com/
Children’s literature online. Free. The site itself is full of good stuff.
http://www.openculture.com/2016/08/enter-an-archive-of-6000-historical-childrens-books-all-digitized-and-free-to-read-online.html
PacktPub has a daily free technical ebook (the full thing, not the samplers you might see elsewhere): https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning
@dashcloud Thanks.
Offer expires at 6PM CST.
To the classical music fans, eclassical puts a random BIS recording on sale for 50% off every day, and there’s always a little note to accompany it from Robert von Bahr, the head of BIS. Some of the comments are straightforward, some are witty, some are seemingly love letters to his various flautist (ex-)wives. But they’re generally insightful, and he never hesitates to point out when a recording might not even be worth the discounted price to most listeners.