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I don't know about the legality, but this is seems like a very useful feature. When I was a teen (well, younger teen), I learned to understand and comprehend w

I don't know about the legality, but this is seems like a very useful feature. When I was a teen (well, younger teen), I learned to understand and comprehend western accents by watching a lot of videos by North American or European creators and using close captions on YouTube. At this point, I don't need them anymore, but I certainly did when I first got started. Clearly this feature on audible can serve a similar purpose, and can definitely help students like myself in developing countries who are taught how to read and write English, but not exactly speak it - at least not in the same way as the western world.

scarface74 7y ago
Does it really help to learn English to have a poorly transcribed audio version because Amazon doesn’t want to pay the license fees?
- scardine 7y ago
  I think transcription (even if not perfect) helps a lot when English is not your first language and you are still training your ear. Remember not everybody processes audio the same way, think ASD or ADD people.
  - moate 7y ago
    The implication hidden in OP's comment is that Amazon, a multi-billion dollar company, is seeking to pay less money to people generating content for its platforms and instead provide users with an inferior product. The question was semi-rhetorical, with the understood context being that the best choice would be for Amazon to pay for all the licenses required to make their products better.
- mhaymo 7y ago
  Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but it seems to me that it's the consumer, not Amazon, that's being asked to pay extra fees. The consumer bought an Audiobook, Amazon wants to provide read-along transcription for that audiobook, but the publisher wants the consumer to have to pay extra for that.
  - scarface74 7y ago
    Do you think that Amazon couldn’t offer a sum of money to publishers that was lower than the retail cost to allow a real, accurate transcript? The music publishers accepted an offer from Apple to allow any song from anywhere to be counted as a “purchase” for $25 a year through “iTunes Match”. There is some number between $0 and $full_wholesale_price that the publishers would accept.
Ensorceled 7y ago
Of course it is a useful feature, that's why Amazon wants to add it. They could pay additional licensing and include the original text as captions just as easily ...
therealdrag0 7y ago
Tangent: I enjoyed www.fluentu.com when I was studying french. They provide tooling around YouTube videos and sub-titles in foreign languages.

scarface74 7y ago

Does it really help to learn English to have a poorly transcribed audio version because Amazon doesn’t want to pay the license fees?

scardine 7y ago
I think transcription (even if not perfect) helps a lot when English is not your first language and you are still training your ear. Remember not everybody processes audio the same way, think ASD or ADD people.
- moate 7y ago
  The implication hidden in OP's comment is that Amazon, a multi-billion dollar company, is seeking to pay less money to people generating content for its platforms and instead provide users with an inferior product. The question was semi-rhetorical, with the understood context being that the best choice would be for Amazon to pay for all the licenses required to make their products better.
mhaymo 7y ago
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but it seems to me that it's the consumer, not Amazon, that's being asked to pay extra fees. The consumer bought an Audiobook, Amazon wants to provide read-along transcription for that audiobook, but the publisher wants the consumer to have to pay extra for that.
- scarface74 7y ago
  Do you think that Amazon couldn’t offer a sum of money to publishers that was lower than the retail cost to allow a real, accurate transcript? The music publishers accepted an offer from Apple to allow any song from anywhere to be counted as a “purchase” for $25 a year through “iTunes Match”. There is some number between $0 and $full_wholesale_price that the publishers would accept.

Ensorceled 7y ago

Of course it is a useful feature, that's why Amazon wants to add it. They could pay additional licensing and include the original text as captions just as easily ...

therealdrag0 7y ago

Tangent: I enjoyed www.fluentu.com when I was studying french. They provide tooling around YouTube videos and sub-titles in foreign languages.