This is driving me batty: I bought the audio edition of the popular book Parenting with Love and Logic directly from the Love and Logic group and they’ve encoded the content in such a way that the disks won’t even mount in my computer. They whir for a bit and are then spat back out by my cranky Mac.
I called the organization and…
… explained that I have iPods and that I want to rip the audio book – that I bought – so I can listen to it portably. Their response: “You can’t do that due to the way we make the CDs. We’re just avoiding people stealing our content.”
Well, dear love and logic people, if I’ve bought the audio material, ripping it so I can put it on my iPod and listen to it as I putter about town is hardly stealing it, is it?
This really makes me quite upset, actually, because it’s yet another example of the extraordinary way that digital rights management are ruining our ability to purchase and enjoy the music (and video) we want, on the devices we want to utilize.
And so, dear Internet users, anyone succeeded at ripping this audio book and willing to share the mp3’s with me? I promise not to tell anyone. 🙂
Is this just me, or is it incredibly anti-consumer to produce audio books that cannot be used on a computer?
I agree!!! How could they make it so you can’t play it on the computer?? makes no sense at all.
I write on kids as well. Mind if I link this? Would be neat if we could find some help. wink lol
:O)
Will the CD play at all in iTunes? Probably not, if it won’t even mount. Is there a “CD” logo on the packaging or case? If you can get the silly thing to play on the Mac, use Audio Hijack Pro to capture the audio coming from iTunes. If it won’t play on your Mac, but will on a stereo-based CD player, hook the stereo to your Mac’s input jack, then use Audio Hijack to grab the audio. Either way, it is more work than it should be. And yes, this DRM is extremely anti-consumer.
The book itself is pretty good. The techniques did not work well (they worked ok) for the foster child my wife and I had years ago. But that’s a saga for another time.
My wife & I are big fans of the Love & Logic stuff too! I wonder if, by chance, your discs are simply defective? Or perhaps they’re somehow encoded for IBM-compatible PCs only.
But, if they’ve added rootkit-type of anti-piracy protection, you must be sure to prevent the disc from autolaunching (hold down the left Shift key when loading the disc on a PC) or else the applet will silently, steathily install and prevent you from ripping the discs.
I’d be glad to give it a shot if you’d like. I’d even split the original cost of the discs so we’re still on the up & up (legally).
Say.. and while you’re at it.. can you run off some copies for me?? and maybe could you scan copies of my book and put ’em in a pdf and mail them around??
They do have a reason..
Here’s how to overcome it.. just play it with whatever you play it with.. then plug a wire into the headphone jack of your cd player and connect the other end to your Mac.. then just record it.. take the big file you recorded and convert it to an MP3..
Extra work.. yes.. so was taking a record album and recording it.. that’s why they also sold tapes.. it wasn’t long ago that we bought albums and such.. sure.. we bought rights.. but who knew.. we bought physical things.. we didn’t complain if we had to buy extras.. now we feel we’re being ripped off.
Well.. in the words of love and logic… Bummer.
Dave C, you miss my point entirely in your zeal to point out how albums were also a pain to work with (or is that your point?) Frankly, go back and you’ll find that there was great grief about the introduction of cassettes because people could then record their albums, but I remember doing just that so I could listen to my favorite albums in the car. No car turntables, and I didn’t like the idea of buying both an album (to listen to at home) and a cassette (for the car), so I took matters into my own hands.
The point, to me, isn’t whether or not it’s easy, but whether or not the company is listening to its paying customers. If the “punishment should fit the crime” then surely “the product should match the needs of the customer” is a logical extension? 🙂
I understand totally.. and I wish it was easy too.. and my point was that it has always been a pain in the rear.. but the “suits” aren’t going to stop.. so I guess I was saying (not very well..) that it sucks.. but energy wasted on it is.. wasted energy.. which sucks too…
The silly thing is that the harder they make it for us to use our own products the more they help the pirates.. if it’s soooo hard to copy something.. then we’re not gonna learn how to do it.. we’re gonna get someone else to do it for us… and thus.. pirates keep in business.
If you think the music biz is bad.. the video game biz is 100 times worse..
I guess my comment was me practicing handing back the problem.. I just didn’t do it in a loving way.. My words didn’t mirror the tone I had here.. sorry.. I didn’t mean to sound harsh.
Ok?…
If you have a mini-stereo male to mini-stereo male cord you can copy it the old fashioned way.. I guess that was the useful part of my post.
Enjoy!
Dave
PS – kid interruptions keep my words short.. which may seem terse.. sorry!
That completley excludes me as a customer of theirs then. I don’t even own a CD player (other than in my car) or a walkman. If buy an audio it must play on my computer or my iPod. That is just nuts that you can’t do one or the other.
Love and Logic is simple.. three rules.. and everything you need is on their website for free in the articles… if you want.. you can buy their stuff and listen to it over and over.. and get good at it.. or just reread the 3 rules.. an example or two and keep at it.. as long as you start everything with a hug and let the kid know what you’re willing to do.. and hand back the kid’s problems in a loving way.. you’re there.
They have a podcast now. Does not goo d for me and my 2 year old, but if you have older kids… maybe at least it’s something.
/I’m miffed just reading about your difficulty and their “oh well” attitude. I’m actually on your blog b/c I was looking for MP3 files to purchase (I have the book, but want to listen) and I landed here. Ha!
While I am MP3-less (not so tech-literate…but that’s another story)…I am just glad to see that folks read, understand and use L&L…I’m a personal fan…along with “Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach” by Howard Glasser. Two of my faves! I’m thrilled that some dads are reading and can have such meaningful conversations while employing the strategies
even with each other :-)!!! I do agree that it is a BUMMER that the CD’s cannot be played on the computer…nor on your MP3. The company would be wise to address that, no?
Wendy
http://www.kidlutions.com