Audible.com: Why so hard?

I loved being read to as a kid, and as an adult, I still love it. Audiobooks are great on the Kindle. So why is it so darn difficult to get them from Audible.com? And why are they so incredibly expensive? Since Amazon owns Audible, you would think they would have an interest in encouraging people to download to the Kindle. Instead, you have to:

1. Sign up for an Audible.com account, if necessary.
2. Click Device Center near the top of the Audible.com home page.
3. Near the top of the Device Center page, after MP3, PDA, and Mobile Phones, click Other.
4. Next to Amazon Kindle, click the link Click here to download your software.
5. On the next page, click Download Software under the operating system you are using on your computer (Windows or Mac).
6. On the next page, you are asked to click Select under the method you’ll use to listen to files. Don’t choose any of these. Click Other Software Options instead.
7. Click the download link under Audible Manager.
8. A dialog box appears prompting you to save the file.

Are you still with me?

9. When the AudibleManager Setup screen appears, choose Amazon Kindle from the drop-down list.

When AudibleManager window opens, connect your Kindle to your USB port on your computer.

Your Kindle shows up in the bottom of the AudibleManager window. Your Audible.com library appears in the top. Move files from the top to the bottom to get them on your Kindle.

One nice thing about the AudibleManager window is that it lets you see how much room you have left on your Kindle, and gives you the chance to move files to an external SD card if you prefer. This is advisable because audio books are huge in terms of file size and will quickly eat up your Kindle's internal memory. You get a nice pie chart that tells you how much memory is being used and what's left: