31–40 of 71 posts
Can I read a physical book when I'm running? Can I read a physical book when I'm doing house work? Or throwing pots in my studio? Or knitting? Or cooking? Or driving? Can I stay focused if I'm just sitting and listening instead of reading? Absolutely not. There's no 'vs' here. They occupy different spaces. All hail text, whatever form it takes.
Amazon is trying hard with Audiobooks, but they seem to be extremely expensive to me, maybe that’s their way of making a lot more money than kindle format. I spend my listening time just trying to catch up with podcasts. What audio book formats are there, and services. Dare I say it are there any open source ones? There are many podcast players, are the many audiobook players? Is there anything really useful in an au…
Over a regular music player, absolutely. Most podcast players treat a podcast as a single file. Audiobooks aren't single file and they become almost unusable without a dedicated player.
Why is there no Spotify for audiobooks? Audible’s pricing model is stupid. I guess the bean counters know better than I, but I imagine there are a lot of people like me who just shrug and listen to what I can get for free through my library’s Libby access. I would gladly pay 15$ a month for unlimited.
Taking "99% invisible" for instance, the content in the podcast, on the web or in a book are fundamentally the same level of quality and interest.
Then light novels are pushing the boundaries of what novel literature should look like and we get hundred page books formated as SMS conversations or with ASCII art like layout without much issues.
And on the other end interview and reporting shows are becoming way more researched than the bog standard columns in printed magazines.
Patreon is behind a lot of this change, allowing money to flow to creators whatever their medium, and I'm all for it.
I’m curious as to what people think about Audiobooks? They just seem so expensive to me, and the concept still feels like cheating to me.
For fiction, having a narrator's voice brings a social context and coloration that might not be appreciated, but when the choice is between not finishing a book (= not buying any sequel any other book after that) or getting a slightly different experience, I'd take the latter, and I think the market is better for it.
Why is there no Spotify for audiobooks? Audible’s pricing model is stupid. I guess the bean counters know better than I, but I imagine there are a lot of people like me who just shrug and listen to what I can get for free through my library’s Libby access. I would gladly pay 15$ a month for unlimited.
I use Storytel myself. It's available in many countries. I think it's one of the best services out there for the unlimited listeners.
Its not cheating, some books can only be read, while others are improved with audio. I prefer reading books, there is something special about holding a book in your hands, insering a book mark or jotting down something illegible in the margins. I have read a massive amount of books in my time as a psychotherapist for 25 years. For me, it is far better to read books to fully understand and examine the theories, concep…
I have issues with voices too sometimes. My favourite audiobooks are the Doctor Who audiobooks that are actually read by David Tennant, because then you get the proper Doctor voice, a nice scottish "narrator" voice, and he does reasonably good impressions of everyone else too. I got The Stone Rose, The Resurrection Casket and The Feast of the Drowned as freebies with the Radio Times when I was very young, and I liste…
Douglas Adams did a narration of HHGTTG which holds a very dear place for me too.
Amazon is trying hard with Audiobooks, but they seem to be extremely expensive to me, maybe that’s their way of making a lot more money than kindle format. I spend my listening time just trying to catch up with podcasts. What audio book formats are there, and services. Dare I say it are there any open source ones? There are many podcast players, are the many audiobook players? Is there anything really useful in an au…
>Is there anything really useful in an audiobook player? Over a regular music player, absolutely. Most podcast players treat a podcast as a single file. Audiobooks aren't single file and they become almost unusable without a dedicated player.
You fall asleep with it on? Better hope you remember the timestamp…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Is there anything really useful in an audiobook player? Over a regular music player, absolutely. Most podcast players treat a podcast as a single file. Audiobooks aren't single file and they become almost unusable without a dedicated player.
I can’t believe (well; okay I actually can) than in 2025 I still can’t save a bookmark in apples “books” app when listening to an audiobook… You fall asleep with it on? Better hope you remember the timestamp…
I’m curious as to what people think about Audiobooks? They just seem so expensive to me, and the concept still feels like cheating to me.
Unlimited services like Storytel are pretty cheap. Not library-cheap, but similar to Spotify.
> and the concept still feels like cheating to me.
Nah. It'd only be cheating if you somehow need the practice in physical reading. Like school kids or something. I'm confident in my abilities to parse the written word. I "read" books to absorb the ideas in them and using spoken books allows me to do that while driving or cleaning.