- Playaway
Playaway is the name of a solid-state prerecorded audio player introduced in 2005 by Findaway World, LLC, based in
Cleveland, Ohio . About the size of a deck of playing cards and weighing only 2 ounces, it comes preloaded with an entireaudiobook or music compilation and is capable of storing up to 80 hours of audio. It is one of the lightest digital audio players in the world and sets an automatic bookmark when powered down.The digital content is loaded at the factory and cannot be changed or copied by the end user. A 3 mm stereo jack provides output to earphones or an external amplifier. Power is provided by a changeable 1.5V AAA cell, allowing it to operate approximately 20 hours before battery depletion, with books playing over seven hours. They are more expensive than CDs, but are less bulky and do not require changing or downloading media. Some titles such as
Dreams from My Father have been offered for sale for as much as $49.99, though have been sold at airports for $35, and some used titles can be had for under $20.00
The Playaway is finding favor with public and school libraries, as it avoids the issue of damaged Compact Cassette tapes andCompact Disc s. [cite news | publisher = Norfolk County Council| title = Plug and Play Books - Library Launch | url = http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&ssDocName=NCC057137&ssSourceNodeId=&ssTargetNodeId=3018 | accessdate = 2008-04-03] Playaways have also found favor with the Military Library Program for troops serving abroad. Fact|date=April 2008
Playaway was designed to provide simple and immediate access to content. The simplicity behind the product (just plug in headphones and press play) has been especially popular among technophobes, busy multitaskers, and also the visually impaired. Fact|date=April 2008References
External links
* [http://www.playaway.com/ playaway.com] — Playaway home page
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
