Tuesday, November 04, 2008

MOLDI adventures - Thing #22

OK - I've tried it. I'm sitting here in my office, knowing I have to work this 12 hour day (at least - hoping we'll continue to have no lines at the poll this evening), and decided to try the MOLDI (Mid-Ohio Digital Library Initiative, where you can download books and movies, supposedly just with a library card) audio book and movie downloads. Grr. If I was at home, I could download all the proprietary software, make all the updates to the players and things that are needed, and download a book or movie. Several years ago when we first got this stuff, I dutifully (and excitedly, really, as I love gadgets) downloaded an audio book and a print book. It was fun, but neither one was any easier than just getting them from the L, and unless I was far away, I might as well just get them through more traditional means and not muck up my hard drive with more software.

So today, I thought "Hey, maybe things have changed in . . . what . . . 3-5 years". So what has changed? Nothing! First I looked for some titles I've been meaning to listen to: Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded - nothing, and then Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin movie - nada. Sigh. Then I just browsed and found a Lawrence Block mystery I like - got that in the online book - not audio - but it's now on my computer. Big deal, though, as I don't really have a handheld that will hold it and I'm not likely to sit at a terminal and read it.

Then I found a movied I'd be willing to watch, but after about 3 download things, it told me it can't play because I need a newer edition of Window's Media Player. Grr. Same for the audio book. Blah

So what did I learn about MOLDI? It's not where I want it to be, yet, to be a happy user. That said, I do have a good friend who downloads audiobooks all the time because he works really odd hours and ends up not being able to access the physical library much. Understood.

It's not horrible - it's just not yet the product I want to use.