Which means I’ll need even more bookshelves

Everybody is trying to figure out how to make the next big leap in publishing. E-books , print on demand, blogging, etc., not to mention the lucrative audiobook industry , all pose as alternatives to the traditional $30 hardback book and $16 trade paperback. Take the product being put out by Findaway , for example.

Findaway, which is sending out e-mails to newspapers across the country, is an audiobook about the size of a deck of cards. The book (and maybe two) comes preloaded. One AAA battery, which is all that’s needed, and a set of ear-bud headphones are included. All you need to do is pull it out of the packaging, put in the battery, attach the headphones and begin listening. According to a story in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer , “unlike traditional music players, which let you load music or audiobooks onto them, the Playaway player is the book. Its packaging will mirror a book’s cover. Users can change the speed of the narrator and make their own bookmarks throughout the audiobook. When the audiobook is turned off, it will remain at the spot a listener left off.”

Just think: no online downloads, no tapes or CDs, just something you can open it up and begin playing within 30 seconds. The downside, of course, is that you have to buy another device to hear another book.