The Town of Odyssey

I'm new here, so someone else might have posted about this and I'd never know, but I thought this was pretty cool. The other day I randomly searched for AIO on iTunes, and it turns out that they've loaded almost 150 episodes! They're categorized under audiobooks, which makes sense, I guess. The episodes are all old ones (the newest ones were released in 1995), which can be good or bad, I guess. They're $2.95 each, which I think is a little steep, but you know, if you've got to have them, money is no object, right?. Now, I know that this really doesn't apply to a lot of people in the TOO, because most of us have them already, but I think it's exciting because there's a potential for a lot of people who haven't ever heard of AIO to be exposed to it. Also, if one of your tapes or cds break, God forbid, you can replace one without having to get it mailed from Colorado. So anyway, I guess the whole point of this overly long and wordy post (sorry) is that my suspicion that iTunes is the most awesome thing ever has been confirmed.

Actually, on the new official site you can listen to every episode for free. Well, not exactly, there is a catch, there's about 150 right now, but they add one every day and don't ever take any off, so with the number of episodes there are it will take about two years to get them all up, but eventually every one will be available for free.

Don't worry about your post length, there have been much much longer posts. Some are pages and pages. I'd say that's about average size for a topic starting post.

Sweet! Unfortunately, you probably can't get them onto your iPod from the website...at least, not without a lot of work that probably involves some amount of hacking.

Jugglah wrote:Sweet! Unfortunately, you probably can't get them onto your iPod from the website...at least, not without a lot of work that probably involves some amount of hacking.

Yes, which would be illegal...

Thanks for sharing this with everyone, Jugglah!

I've been tracking the number of episodes available for purchase on iTunes since April. I think it's fantastic that Odyssey has finally jumped aboard this audio-selling juggernaut. With over 300 episodes on iTunes, I'm hoping Odyssey will attract new fans for years to come. Sure, it may not be the most affordable way of picking up an album, but who said it had to? Diehard listeners have already heard of Odyssey by now, so they only need to use spend the $2.95 if they've lost an episode or something. But the new or casual listener can use iTunes to sample an episode to see if they'd enjoy the show. After which point they'll be hooked and will be craving for more.

I'm sorry, but I just don't get AIO on itunes. If it's that important that you have them on your ipod, instead of a portable CD player or computer, than buy an album, put them on your ipod and save $16. I can maybe see buying one to replace a broken CD, but still $9 for three episodes seems really overpriced to me. But maybe that's just me.

Well, that's what I said. I think it's best for replacements and attracting new listeners, not really die-hard fans who either have the the albums or plan to buy them as albums, not individual episodes.

Danielle Abigail Maxwell wrote:

Jugglah wrote:Sweet! Unfortunately, you probably can't get them onto your iPod from the website...at least, not without a lot of work that probably involves some amount of hacking.

Yes, which would be illegal...

You know I was kidding...right? I mean, can you imagine an AIO listener stealing an episode? Heh, it would probably be one about stealing being wrong. And they'd be haunted by the disembodied voice of Whit...um, I mean...their conscience for the rest of their lives

Edit - please use the edit button instead of double-posting. Thank you. - Catspaw

King Butter Turtle wrote:If it's that important that you have them on your ipod, instead of a portable CD player or computer, than buy an album, put them on your ipod and save $16.

I don't think Odyssey would be that important to the brand new listener. What a perfect way, then, to introduce the world of Adventures in Odyssey to a casual iTunes user? It gives them the opportunity to essentially "sample" the a full 20+ minute radio drama for only $3. If they like it (which of course they would ), then they could purchase the whole album online or at a Christian bookstore.

King Butter Turtle wrote:I can maybe see buying one to replace a broken CD, but still $9 for three episodes seems really overpriced to me.

Not as much as you may think. It's worth keeping in mind that Focus will ask for a $7 donation for a replacement CD.

It's like when Chick-fil-a had episodes as kid's meal toys. I mean, $2.95 is about the price of kid's meals. At least before food prices went up everywhere.

King Butter Turtle wrote:Actually, on the new official site you can listen to every episode for free. Well, not exactly, there is a catch, there's about 150 right now, but they add one every day and don't ever take any off, so with the number of episodes there are it will take about two years to get them all up, but eventually every one will be available for free.

Don't worry about your post length, there have been much much longer posts. Some are pages and pages. I'd say that's about average size for a topic starting post.

Bad news, I received an e-mail from Nathan and he said that the shows will not be available forever, however he didn't give a time frame as to how long the episodes will be available

Reddo wrote:

King Butter Turtle wrote:Actually, on the new official site you can listen to every episode for free. Well, not exactly, there is a catch, there's about 150 right now, but they add one every day and don't ever take any off, so with the number of episodes there are it will take about two years to get them all up, but eventually every one will be available for free.

Don't worry about your post length, there have been much much longer posts. Some are pages and pages. I'd say that's about average size for a topic starting post.

Bad news, I received an e-mail from Nathan and he said that the shows will not be available forever, however he didn't give a time frame as to how long the episodes will be available

...so, so how long will they be available?!?!?!

It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio, which means you have to be on a live internet connection to hear the shows. Who's going to sit in front of a computer for hours and listen only to AIO? (ok, maybe some people on The ToO, but not most listeners is my guess.)

With Audio Downloads like AIO on iTunes, you can listen offline, in your car (burn to CD), on iPods or other portable devices, etc. Most people want that convenience, so they'll still pay.

In exchange for the headaches caused by OnePlace pulling AIO, it'd be nice if they kept adding to the number of streaming episodes rather than pulling them.

peace,
-king shasta

shasta wrote: In exchange for the headaches caused by OnePlace pulling AIO, it'd be nice if they kept adding to the number of streaming episodes rather than pulling them.
peace,
-king shasta

I agree.

Danielle Abigail Maxwell wrote:

Jugglah wrote:Sweet! Unfortunately, you probably can't get them onto your iPod from the website...at least, not without a lot of work that probably involves some amount of hacking.

Yes, which would be illegal...

Not necessarily. I have a letter from FOTF saying that they don't mind if I record episodes.

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio...

Which can quickly turn into 150 mp3 files with a basic audio recording program.

Trent wrote:

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio...

Which can quickly turn into 150 mp3 files with a basic audio recording program.

Most AIO listeners aren't that tech-savvy, though.

Weren't AIO albums being released in cassette as late as 2005... when the rest of the world had moved to CD?

I rest my case.

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio...

Which can quickly turn into 150 mp3 files with a basic audio recording program.

Most AIO listeners aren't that tech-savvy, though.

You underestimate their brilliance!

Trent wrote:

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio...

Which can quickly turn into 150 mp3 files with a basic audio recording program.

Most AIO listeners aren't that tech-savvy, though.

You underestimate their brilliance!

I did it to put album 48-50 on to my Mp3.

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:

shasta wrote:

Trent wrote:It makes sense, though. It's kinda unreasonable to expect over a hundred episodes to be free.

But those "150 free episodes" are only Streaming Audio...

Which can quickly turn into 150 mp3 files with a basic audio recording program.

Most AIO listeners aren't that tech-savvy, though.

Weren't AIO albums being released in cassette as late as 2005... when the rest of the world had moved to CD?

I rest my case.

As one of those non-tech-savvy members, I would like to say that I still love tapes and even when I'm listening to AIO on CD, I'll probably still saying that I'm listening to an Odyssey tape, or I'll say CD but it just seems all wrong.

Since I already own all 50 albums I probably won't be buying any episodes off iTunes, but it's super cool that some are available there!