Quicker than I thought!

Two years ago, I made a rather bold prediction: In the future, media content will be purchased after it is consumed. And, the consumer will pay what he or she thinks the material is worth. And, the content creator will receive a majority of the money.

Rather bold, wouldn't you say? People would pay from what they thought something was worth? Yeah, right.

How many books have you read? How many books have you read all the way through? How many books did you start, and just couldn't finish. Maybe the story or content started off good, but just drifted away, and you lost interest. How much did you pay for that book?

How many books have you read that you just couldn't put down? How many books did you stay up reading all night, till you were done? How much should that author have received? More than likely, they only made 8% off of the total price of the book. Did you think he or she deserved more?

Two years ago, I predicted ebooks would begin a revolution of content creation and distribution. Like I said above, the author would write the material, distribute it, and the reader would pay for it after they read it. If you just couldn't finish the book, you didn't have to pay for it. If you couldn't put the book down, you could pay what you thought it was worth, and the author received the majority of what you paid, not pennies on the dollar.

I was wrong. Not about the concept, or really even the content. I was wrong about the medium. Ebooks just never took off. I still believe they will, someday. When the technology exists to deliver the content on an acceptable product. I use a Pocket PC to read my ebooks, and have read my last seven books on it. Three books -not included in that seven- are my text books. The problem is; most people are patterned by paper. They just can't break away from the dead-tree delivery method. So, for the moment, they'll have to pay first.

But, I was also right. My prediction came true, but through a different medium: Audiobooks. Or, more precisely, Podiobooks.

Podiobook.com is a unique site. Authors of written work turn their material into spoken word, and distribute it for free. Podiobooks hosts the content. You can download the books, usually by chapters, and listen to them anytime you want. If you like the material, you get to pay whatever you think the material is worth, or whatever you can afford if you wish. If you're broke, you can enjoy and not pay, just like a library.

My prediction came true because the method of content delivery existed in an acceptable format; the digital audio player, specifically, an MP3 player. For most people, an iPod. Many people already have the accept format of content delivery, and people are use to using them. Podiobook.com did exactly what I though would happen. Good for them.

So, my commercial tonight is free, unless you kindly choose to pay an author. This post was brought to you buy:

You can click links to put them in your iTunes if you wish. I use Juice (iPodder for Linux users). You can have the chapters downloaded when you want, and listen to them when you want. Put them on your iPod.

And, if you really enjoy a Podiobook, drop the author some money. They make it easy to do.