Audible Books of Value?

I have a rather lengthy blog post dealing with books in “new media” simmering on the wordpress burner here.  While that post isn’t quite ready yet, I wanted to quickly toss out another “thought” for discussion.  Yes.  Discussion.  Feel free to comment!

I am a regular listener to most of the TWIT podcasts produced by Leo Laporte.  For a while now they have been sponsored by Audible Books.  The pitch, which is rather formulaic across all of the podcasts, is this.  The podcasters present a “book of the week” that they recommend from Audible.  And, if you go visit audible with their “secret code” your first book is free. That’s right–FREE!

Now, I am curious about several things, which I will list here in classic bullet fashion:

• How long will it take before every listener will have an account? (1st book free only lasts for one book, after all…)
• How many people actually buy the recommended books?  (Anyone? Does the recommendation influence your buying patterns?)
• How often do YOU listen to audio books?
• And how often do you listen to podcasts?  How many do you follow?

So, there ya have it.  Perhaps I will some day add the polling widget, like my brother has over at his blog.  Until then, let’s engage here in the comments!