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America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

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Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#11

Post by ballenf »

resiros wrote: post #4

In my personal experience, I have always found it that the books I've listened are the first to fade from my memory. Second came books consumed as ebooks and last, old fashioned paper books. I believe that the act of touching the book, carrying with you everywhere, leaving it on the table, seems to make its content much more memorable for me than reading it as an ebook or listening to it. I find it that I still remem…

Completely agree. When I recall a passage from a book, I remember where on the page the passage was. In an e-book that's an ephemeral concept as you change font size and rotate the reading device or switch between devices.

I stopped buying ebooks completely within the last year after being quite a fan and owning 3 kindle readers. I'll still buy from a publisher that will send me non-DRM in multiple formats. At least then I feel like I own it instead of renting.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#12

Post by mrspeaker »

resiros wrote: post #4

In my personal experience, I have always found it that the books I've listened are the first to fade from my memory. Second came books consumed as ebooks and last, old fashioned paper books. I believe that the act of touching the book, carrying with you everywhere, leaving it on the table, seems to make its content much more memorable for me than reading it as an ebook or listening to it. I find it that I still remem…

I feel the same with tech books... there seems to be some kind of "spatial memory" that works for me. I don't have a very good memory in general, but I can pick up a reference book I haven't touched for years and flick straight the page I was looking for.

When using ebooks I spend most of my time trying to figure out a search term that will get me back to a certain page. It's not a huge deal I guess, but just something interesting I noticed.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#13

Post by lucb1e »

M_Grey wrote: post #5

I used to read a lot as a kid, to the point that I wouldn't get much sleep. Finally my grandfather gave me a couple of audiobooks he had on cassette, and that was the beginning of an obsession that continued for decades. I've variously gotten into old time radio, unabridged audio books, copies of audiobooks that were only made for the visually impaired at the LoC...everything. I used Audible for a little while, but I…

Wheel of Time! I'm in my second re-listen now, book 6 or so. It's such an elaborate and well thought-out world, and of course 14 books that read as a single big story postpones the post-book depression... Well, not quite indefinitely, especially if you read other things like The Martian in between (that's my favorite book btw), but it limits it to once a year and a half rather than every month and a half.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#14

Post by ballenf »

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on cassette tape checked out form my local library. Got lost in those audio books as a kid after reading the books themselves.

My sense is that there are certain books that can be 'performed' in audio and they are best suited for the format. For academic or theory books, less so, although anything read by the author can give additional insight (or be incredibly annoying depending on their voice).

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#15

Post by fizixer »

inputcoffee wrote: post #7

I can only "listen" to an audio book when I am not multi-tasking. Otherwise I find myself zone out of the book, and miss a huge chunk of it, then rewind to the point I thought I missed and rewind too much. Realize I have heard it before and let myself zone out again etc. I realize how inefficient live lectures are and how much I must have missed through my life.

I have the same problem. Even watching youtube lecture videos, I have to rewind so many times (just 10-30 seconds each time usually) that it takes an average of 2 hours to watch a 1 hour lecture video. (Though part of that is because I also pause the video frequently, either to take pen-and-paper notes, or spend time thinking while trying to understand the concepts).

Live lecture is a total disaster for me now. I don't even bother.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#18

Post by M_Grey »

lucb1e wrote: post #13
M_Grey wrote: post #5

I used to read a lot as a kid, to the point that I wouldn't get much sleep. Finally my grandfather gave me a couple of audiobooks he had on cassette, and that was the beginning of an obsession that continued for decades. I've variously gotten into old time radio, unabridged audio books, copies of audiobooks that were only made for the visually impaired at the LoC...everything. I used Audible for a little while, but I…

Wheel of Time! I'm in my second re-listen now, book 6 or so. It's such an elaborate and well thought-out world, and of course 14 books that read as a single big story postpones the post-book depression... Well, not quite indefinitely, especially if you read other things like The Martian in between (that's my favorite book btw), but it limits it to once a year and a half rather than every month and a half.

Your strategy is definitely the one I try to use, otherwise the let-down is just... crushing, especially in a world as fully realized as WoT. I'm cautiously looking forward to seeing what can be done with an HBO/Showtime kind of tv series with the property.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#19

Post by Chaebixi »

inputcoffee wrote: post #7

I can only "listen" to an audio book when I am not multi-tasking. Otherwise I find myself zone out of the book, and miss a huge chunk of it, then rewind to the point I thought I missed and rewind too much. Realize I have heard it before and let myself zone out again etc. I realize how inefficient live lectures are and how much I must have missed through my life.

I think multi-tasking with an audiobook only works when the other task is one you can perform automatically (e.g. highway driving). If you're doing anything that requires any thought or decision making, then you might as well not bother with the book.

Also, I think the kind of audiobook is important:

1. Fiction usually works best, since narratives and action are easy to follow.

2. Simple non-fiction is worse but still doable (I'm thinking bestseller-type popular nonfiction and narrative history).

3. Nonfiction with technical or conceptually challenging content is the worst, and really requires full undivided attention.

Re: America's biggest new reading trend: obsessed with multitasking via audio books

#20

Post by lucb1e »

obstinate wrote: post #2

Huh. I use audiobooks when I'm cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen, doing chores, but I don't speed read them. If you're looking for suggestions: - Plugged -- Eoin Colfer - Screwed -- Eoin Colfer - Half {a King, the World, a War} -- Joe Abercrombie - Also everything else written by Joe Abercrombie - Seveneves -- Neal Stephenson Sometimes it's not about how good the book is, but about the reader. That's the differenc…

Same here. Suddenly I don't want to stop cleaning anymore, rather than not wanting to start!
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