This morning turned into another 2-hour commute from Salem, NH to Watertown, MA. 35 miles in 2 hours. Purgatory. Today was a little different, however, as the drive didn't seem quite so long.

Yeasterday, Microsoft released both new Zune devices and (more importantly) new Zune software (more information on the Zune 3.0 launch is over at BostonPocketPC.com). While there are a lot of cool new features, the one I was most waiting for was the ability to download and play audio books from Audible.com. For those who don't know, I've been using Audible for audio books since around the 2000/2001 time frame (I can't even remember for sure). I love to have the ability to select an audio book on demand and simply download it to my device. For a long time, that device was a Pocket PC/Windows Mobile device or phone. However, the move away from 2.5/3.5mm audio jacks to other standards made Windows Mobile a less than desirable solution.

By adding audio book content from Audible to the Zune's capabilities, I now have rediscovered an old friend. Last night, I downloaded the Audible Manager update for Zune support, pulled down a couple of book from my online Audible Library and quickly copied them to my Zune (by the way - the improved USB 2.0 Zune drivers are amazing; 80 MB in a handful of seconds). This morning, I pulled my Zune into the auxiliary input jack on my car stereo, fired up an audio book and away I went. I never thought I'd say this, but I was a little saddened when the commute came to an end; I was at a really great part of the book I was listening to :-)

While I've done it several times in the past, I feel compelled to again recommend to any avid audio book listener or book reader with lots of "non-reading" time to consider Audible.com. The Zune is only the latest addition to an amazing number of supported MP3 players and devices.