General media thread for architecture, urban planning and design

[bravado]

Of course it’s easier said than done, what is?

[nms]

Given that we've had a century of the trend of turning housing into office space, it was only a matter of time before it went the other direction (ditto turning industrial space into offices and/housing).

[danbrotherston]

Does anyone know if you can get audiobooks anywhere except audible? I'm looking to listen to Jeff Speck's updated walkable cities but I'm not particularly keen on joining Audible...but it seems like basically all searches come up audible.

[Acitta]

Does anyone know if you can get audiobooks anywhere except audible? I'm looking to listen to Jeff Speck's updated walkable cities but I'm not particularly keen on joining Audible...but it seems like basically all searches come up audible.

I think that they basically have a monopoly.

[KevinL]

It's a very unfortunate near-monopoly. A successful fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, is trying to do some pushback and is boosting Spotify and Speechify as alternatives, but there's still along way to go.

[Acitta]

Does anyone know if you can get audiobooks anywhere except audible? I'm looking to listen to Jeff Speck's updated walkable cities but I'm not particularly keen on joining Audible...but it seems like basically all searches come up audible.

I think that they basically have a monopoly.

Why this author is taking a stand against Amazon’s audiobook dominance

[Acitta]

I think that they basically have a monopoly.

Why this author is taking a stand against Amazon’s audiobook dominance

The article I linked to mentions Libro.fm as a source for audiobooks.

[danbrotherston]

It's a very unfortunate near-monopoly. A successful fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, is trying to do some pushback and is boosting Spotify and Speechify as alternatives, but there's still along way to go.

I've never heard of (and will checkout) Speechify but Spotify is also off my list of companies I'll give money too. I cannot stand Joe Rogan...

[danbrotherston]

Also, I looked at Libro.FM and searched

Jeff Speck...search hit! Yay...Result: Walkable Cities! double yay.

"Summary: Please note: This audiobook has been created using AI Voice."

Oh...well I can do that...

"Summary: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book."

Well shucks...how much excitement and disappointment can you cram into a single search result.

[ac3r]

Does anyone know if you can get audiobooks anywhere except audible? I'm looking to listen to Jeff Speck's updated walkable cities but I'm not particularly keen on joining Audible...but it seems like basically all searches come up audible.

Looks like you can get a free trial through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Walkable-City-Dow...0865477728

Good for 1 premium title...or 1 credit. Not sure what that actually means. This is Amazon.com though, not sure how that would work if you've got a Canadian or Dutch account but it might be worth a shot. However this lists a publishing date of November 12, 2013. Not sure if that's the updated version you're after as I'm unfamiliar with the book.

[plam]

BTW the author in question, Cory Doctorow, does have Waterloo connections; he's been Writer in Residence at the University of Waterloo, and SW Ontario has featured in his books. He lives in California now and recently got US citizenship. But he is generally anti tech monopoly and I support his politics.

[danbrotherston]

BTW the author in question, Cory Doctorow, does have Waterloo connections; he's been Writer in Residence at the University of Waterloo, and SW Ontario has featured in his books. He lives in California now and recently got US citizenship. But he is generally anti tech monopoly and I support his politics.

The author in question?

Cory Doctorow is great, but Jeff Speck is the author of Walkable Cities, AFAIK Cory Doctorow hasn't written about urban planning (fiction I think). Unless I'm missing something.

[plam]

BTW the author in question, Cory Doctorow, does have Waterloo connections; he's been Writer in Residence at the University of Waterloo, and SW Ontario has featured in his books. He lives in California now and recently got US citizenship. But he is generally anti tech monopoly and I support his politics.

The author in question?

Cory Doctorow is great, but Jeff Speck is the author of Walkable Cities, AFAIK Cory Doctorow hasn't written about urban planning (fiction I think). Unless I'm missing something.

Sorry, I meant the author who was waging a war against DRM and audiobook monopolies, who Acitta had linked to an article about. Not Walkabout Cities.

(By the way, I'm in Japan right now, and there is no street parking in cities.)

[danbrotherston]

The author in question?

Cory Doctorow is great, but Jeff Speck is the author of Walkable Cities, AFAIK Cory Doctorow hasn't written about urban planning (fiction I think). Unless I'm missing something.

Sorry, I meant the author who was waging a war against DRM and audiobook monopolies, who Acitta had linked to an article about. Not Walkabout Cities.

(By the way, I'm in Japan right now, and there is no street parking in cities.)

Ahh...sorry. That makes much more sense, I didn't scroll back far enough for context.

Yeah, Doctorow definitely does push on that issue.

(Oh...cool. Yeah, that's probably the right way to do things. The Netherlands has a lot of street parking. FWIW...I'm not sure how parking actually works here. I was surprised and then not surprised to see that there are parking minimums here (they're much lower than Canada, but they still exist), but given the form of new developments, it's clear that *all* parking is included in these minimums--including street parking. In many places street parking is used in place of driveways for homes).

[ac3r]

(By the way, I'm in Japan right now, and there is no street parking in cities.)

They're smart and build these sort of things instead. :'P

What's really cool is that they even do this for bike parking. There are a few automated, underground bike garages there which are fascinating.