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Comment by conor_f | Hacker News Reader

Can everyone please just stop using Amazon products already? I'm sick of hearing people complain about them and still say "but they're too convenient" or "I've no other option!".

You do.

Stop using Amazon and related products. Tell everyone you can to stop using Amazon and related products.

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Point me to an Audible alternative that has remotely as good selection and pricing in the UK, and I'll have a look at it. I don't like the subscription model and wish there was an alternative.

I’m a fan of the subscription model just because I can get books that are normally a lot more expensive than a credit with a single credit. And if there’s any cheaper books I can just buy them for cash.

It's your job to be a responsible consumer and find alternatives that best suit your needs. It's quite likely you won't find one that has the Amazon selection and pricing, but that's because people are taking the cheap, easy option and exclusively contributing to the monopoly of Amazon instead of supporting alternatives.

A company like Amazon is not ethical. There's too many examples of disgusting practices from them to even count. Stop supporting them and find alternatives.

It won't be the cheapest, it won't have next-day delivery, it won't have as encompassing of a selection, but all of these come at huge human cost when you're talking about it on an Amazon scale.

[edit] Libraries offer a way to borrow audiobooks for free. Check https://www.overdrive.com/libraries to look for your local library's selection. Will definitely hit your pricing requirement and hopefully the selection requirement too!

For those in the US that are reading: you can generally check out audiobooks for free at your local library.

Unfortunately I don't know how libraries work in the UK.

They also have this, but if the local library skimps on their audiobook provider, the selection is abysmal. I literally once closed the tab in disgust after seeing how few good books were in offer in a library where I lived, and that was a very gentrified area so they definitely could afford something better.

Do you have any audible alternatives to suggest?

I don't personally listen to audio books, so hopefully someone can chime in with some helpful alternatives?

From a quick search though, it looks like https://libro.fm/ is where I would start looking with an Audible alternative as it seems to align with my ideals and has a decent selection. There does seem to be a good few options though so have a look yourself if nobody has further suggestions :)

Apparently doesn't work outside the US/Canada:

> You appear to be accessing the site from outside the United States or Canada. While a credit card from the USA/Canada is required to purchase a monthly membership, it is possible to buy a gift membership from anywhere in the world.

It's incredible how far behind the Audiobook world is from Podcasting.

The only company trying something different is Pushkin. I think that may be the start of a Audiobook revolution.

I don’t have an answer for a general audible competitor because I too use audible. However I do purchase directly from one studio that I’m a fan of, Soundbooth Theater. There may be other groups with a similar set up, but I’m not aware of any (nor have I looked though)

Reading this I did a brief search and Kobo looks sort of interesting in offering combined book/audiobooks. A subscription for 1 book a month at $9.99 with no option to buy more credits means I'll be spending a bit more but the extra convenience might be worth it.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/audiobooks

EDIT: Audible's media integration and volume levels have been sort of broken on Android for a year now so I've been vaguely meaning to switch and this is just a prompt.

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