Playaway

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For the UK children's television programme, see Play Away

Playaway audiobook device. Headphones shown for size reference only.

Playaway is the name of a solid-state prerecorded audio player introduced in 2005 by Findaway World, LLC, based in Cleveland, Ohio. About the size of a deck of playing cards and weighing only 2 ounces, it comes preloaded with an entire audiobook or music compilation and is capable of storing up to 80 hours of audio. It is one of the lightest mp3 players in the world and sets an automatic bookmark when powered down.^{[citation needed]} The digital content is loaded at the factory and cannot be changed or copied by the end user. A 3 mm stereo jack provides output to earphones or an external amplifier. Power is provided by a changeable 1.5V AAA cell, allowing it to operate approximately 20 hours before battery depletion.

The Playaway is finding favor with public and school libraries, as it avoids the issue of damaged Compact Cassette tapes and Compact Discs.^[1] Playaways have also found favor with the Military Library Program for troops serving abroad.^{[citation needed]}

Playaway was designed to provide simple and immediate access to content. The simplicity behind the product (just plug in headphones and press play) has been especially popular among technophobes, busy multitaskers, and also the visually impaired.^{[citation needed]}