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I recently really gotten into the „Dungeon Crawler Carl“ series. It’s format really only appeals to me as audio - I would have never read the books.
I divide my listening time between audiobooks and podcasts. One thing that audiobooks have enabled me to do, that I probably never would have gotten around to do on my own (even as I do own the books), is to read classics like Rabelais' Gargantua or Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
except when its an audiobook chances are you're gonna remember much less of it at least thats my experience
I divide my listening time between audiobooks and podcasts. One thing that audiobooks have enabled me to do, that I probably never would have gotten around to do on my own (even as I do own the books), is to read classics like Rabelais' Gargantua or Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur.
except when its an audiobook chances are you're gonna remember much less of it at least thats my experience
But might just be me!
Another problem may be that publishers may develop modern technology that can make it difficult to pass an audiobook from one reader to another, even if it has been purchased. Used audiobooks on CD can be found (but not conveniently) at some thrift shops, typically less than $1.00 per hour of listnening, but CD as a medium for audiobook publishing seems to be now a dead end, and it is not possible to tell for sure by looking at a old and used CD whether or not it is in good enough condition to play on one's home or car equipment. The typical prices for new audiobooks (on whatever media they are published) appears to be approaching something closer to $5 per hour, and even used audiobooks sold on websites offering a large selection are often around half that much. I am around 40 hours per month of audiobook listening, and that is a little bit beyond my price point. Librivox is a great free source, but they are somewhat short of titles newer than 1922, if that matters to you.
Its one of those rare areas where it's still crucial to have a trained and thinking human behind it - vocal ticks and pronunciation quirks are part of the charm. I think an AI reading would be sterile and produce an unpleasant uncanny valley response.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
except when its an audiobook chances are you're gonna remember much less of it at least thats my experience
I don't know - I struggle to remember what I've read half the time. I listen to audio books while walking, and even now I can recall learning about King John (and there reason there has not been a king names John since him in the UK) while walking along the beach. As I do the walk again, similar parts of that book and others return to me. But might just be me!
The interesting and fascinating thing about audiobooks is that we will likely within the next 1-2 years have essentially complete generative AI produced versions of everything imaginable, meaning that the definition of book and audiobook will become one and the same.
With AI? Every character in the book can be voiced in a unique manner, with the narrator matching only the character as needed. Additionally? Those voices can be tuned for the listener; an AI that has been trained for your preferences well beyond the simple matching that AirPods do today with an audiograph. If you listen to Audiobooks, try listening to one that has been performed by a cast.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
except when its an audiobook chances are you're gonna remember much less of it at least thats my experience
I don't know - I struggle to remember what I've read half the time. I listen to audio books while walking, and even now I can recall learning about King John (and there reason there has not been a king names John since him in the UK) while walking along the beach. As I do the walk again, similar parts of that book and others return to me. But might just be me!
e.g. Carn an t-Sagairt Mor and Carn a'Choire Bhoidheach are now forever linked in my memory with Licence to be Bad How Economics Corrupted Us.
I expected that if they continued to grow, audiobooks' and written books would undergo speciation.
Books are a medium. Audiobooks are a different medium. Film may have dabbled in being recorded theatre... but it didn't remain there for long. No one watches recorded plays. Audiobooks have, mostly, stayed just audio versions of the book.
It's just surprising that audiobook listeners haven't developed a distinct taste apart from book readers.
Even though it has gotten huge... the audiobook industry is mostly byproduct and afterthought.
Imagine how lame a podcast version of time magazine would be, with an audiobook-like, minimalist adaptation. About as good as watching a recorded play.
Audiobooks' recent history surprises me. I expected that if they continued to grow, audiobooks' and written books would undergo speciation. Books are a medium. Audiobooks are a different medium. Film may have dabbled in being recorded theatre... but it didn't remain there for long. No one watches recorded plays. Audiobooks have, mostly, stayed just audio versions of the book. It's just surprising that audiobook liste…
Sample size of 1, but: my taste in audiobooks does not perfectly overlap with my taste in dead-trees books. My audiobook library skews much more to the fiction end of things, while my dead-trees library contains more nonfiction. I also use audiobooks to re-read books I've already read.
I enjoy the performance aspect of the audiobooks in its own right. The narrator makes or breaks my experience of the book, to such an extent that I have returned Audible books that _I have already read in dead-trees form and knew I liked_ because the narration was bad. I also suspect some of my favorite audiobooks would have ended up in the "donate/throw out" pile if I'd read them first on paper.