At last! OverDrive audio books work on iPods! Sort of.

Our state library's downloadable audio book system has just taken a giant step forward. OverDrive has recently started adding a few titles in MP3 format, which means that they'll work on Apple products such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Of course, when I went to take a look, I discovered that nearly every one of these titles was checked out. I guess they got the hint.

In a recent press release, OverDrive announced that their new OverDrive Media Console would be able to convert ALL of their titles to a friendlier format.

For most people, that is.

Yes, there's a catch. The new improved media console will work for people who use PC's, but will not work on Macs. Huh? The press release explains...

Once OverDrive Media Console version 3.2 is installed, most titles in a library’s OverDrive WMA Audiobook collection will instantly become iPod-compatible for users with Windows PCs. The growing collection of iPod-compatible, Mac®-friendly OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks will still be available to help libraries better serve patrons with Apple computers.

Oh, well. At least it's a start.