I recently purchased a Pimsleur Spanish language course on audio bookchip. I figured, hey, rather than buying CDs and then ripping them to my hard disk through iTunes and then putting them on my iPod or phone’s MP3 player, I’d save some time by getting it all on a chip and copying what I need. Big mistake.
Everything on the chip is saved in a proprietary DRM format. If I want to listen to the stuff on the chip, I have to use the proprietary player that comes on it. If I want to copy the stuff to iPod, it comes with a converter that automatically puts it onto there through iTunes – converting it all first. The process takes ages! Then, to add insult to injury – when I next plug my iPod in, the stuff I copied will be deleted! Umm, did no one think that maybe, just maybe, I might want to put more mp3s on there while I’m going through ALL 16 HOURS of a language course!?
Want to learn a language on your snazzy mp3 mobile. No can do. There’s no way to get the stuff on there.
Want to use it with your girlfriend? One person at a time. If you had the CDs, you could at least break it down by sharing a CD at a time. On this bookchip, you get 16 hours and no granularity.
I am kicking myself that I bought this rubbish! Buying it on a CD would have given me far more flexibility with how I consume it. I hope that the decision of some of the biggest record companies to release DRM free songs heralds a change in how they treat their customers. This sort of stuff does nothing but tick honest consumers like me off.
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4 responses to “Another consumer foiled by DRM, or why Audiofy bookchips are rubbish”
Hi Jakub,
I’m sorry to hear you had such a disappointing first experience with Audiofy/iofy chips.
I actually work at iofy (formerly Audiofy) as the Director of Information. I’d like to pass along some info that might be helpful.
If you’d like to keep your Pimsleur tracks on your iPod while you add more music, you can select “Manually manage music” under Options on the Summary tab for your iPod in iTunes. With this checked, your language lessons won’t be deleted with the next sync.
We do support some mobile phones. If you can let me know which make and model you have, I would be happy to see if we currently support it (or if we can in the future).
There are a few different ways that you can share the same course between two different people. Shoot me an e-mail at [email protected] and we can talk about what your options are (depending on your computer setup).
The audiobook DRM landscape, for a number of reasons, is different than the one for music. However, we are working on ways to make DRM-free chips and downloads a viable option for spoken word publishers.
If, in the end, you’ve decided that the iofy chips aren’t for you, I can absolutely understand. Let me know, and I’ll make sure you’re sent a RMA and return mailer so you can get a full refund.
FYI, you can copy the data back into your iTunes library:
* Remove all content from your iPod
* Transfer the iofy data via their manager
* Drag and drop /iPod_Control/Music to iTunes
I am having problems trying to run the iofy chip (pimsler Spanish1)on my
PC. Using the card and reader supplied I can launch the iofypc program but
nothing happens. THe card works normally using the player. Please advise
Please contact me regarding problems |i ma having laoding files on to my pc