Despite the fact that the Kindle 2’s Read-to-Me feature isn’t really a threat to audiobooks, Amazon.com decided to take the expeditious route to a solution for the objection of The Authors Guild over the feature, announcing that they would allow publishers to decide on a title by title basis whether they want text-to-speech enabled for any particular title.

This would obviously involve changes to both the Kindle 2’s software and to the e-book format offered by Amazon.com, but one wouldn’t expect it to be that difficult.

The Authors Guild had called the Kindle 2 “a swindle for authors” in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, but realistically, the text-to-speech function is monotonic and decidedly inferior to a true audiobook. However, by making this move, Amazon.com has set a precedent for the future, when electronic voice technology may be good enough to emote and read a book realistically enough to pose a real threat.

In terms of the present, however, listen to a demo, and you decide if The Authors Guild had a reason to be upset.