Update to: An open letter to Audible.com:

Hey, here’s a surprise. Audible came back with a form letter that is not only completely irrelevant in this case, but probably meaningless in any context.

Dear customer, We thank you for contacting the home of the best audio � Audible.com.

Please try going to java.com and installing javasoftware. Unfortunately, we do not have enough information about your computer system to resolve this problem. Because it is extremely difficult to troubleshoot complex technical matters via email, please call our Customer Service group at 1-888-283-5051, or from overseas by calling 1-973-837-2700 to resolve your issue. Our hours of operation are Monday thru Friday, 9 am to 9 pm, and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm Eastern Time.

Please include this message if you are replying with additional information.

Sincerely, Kathy

OK, it would be mean to pick apart the many ways this response doesn’t apply to my question. It’s a form letter, probably keyword selected by some semi-automated process. Or perhaps “Kathy” has a brain injury of some sort.

So let’s try again, under the theory that good CRM systems will eventually escalate a problem to the point where a somewhat-clueful human being reads the message.

To wit:

Thanks for that very strange and unhelpful answer. It was certainly entertaining, trying to figure out what “javasoftware” might have to do with anything I asked.

As I said in the first mail, “Please, please answer me this time – historically I get a not-terribly-relevant canned response.” Perhaps I should have been more clear – I was hoping not to repeat that experience.

The questions again:

  1. Why does Audible insist on Javascript links everywhere, breaking tabbed browsing; multiple-window browsing; the back button; etc.
  2. Why can we not have reliable, bookmarkable URLs – URLs that don’t require a currently-active session tag?

Time will tell.