Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

marhamilresearch4.blob.core.windows.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 195 posts

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#181

Post by WalterBright »

cxr wrote: post #166
WalterBright wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value. Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

You haven't responded (clearly) here to anything I actually said. You just posted two short, dismissive comments consisting of glib non-specifics. If you want to dispute what I'm saying, how about starting with the example I gave (an employee figures out how to automate part of their job, enabling them to either 1. deliver the same amount of value to their employer at a fraction of the effort, or 2. deliver something…

If you automate part of your job resulting in a 2x improvement of your productivity, you have demonstrated a skill that you can sell for more money. That's how you realize the value you created.

The wealth didn't "flow" to you. You created it.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#182

Post by WalterBright »

timmb wrote: post #160
WalterBright wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value. Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

I think it’s more complex than that. Wealth is often created by monopolising things (e.g. enclosures) instead of by creating them.

There are 33 million businesses in the US. Are they monopolies?

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#183

Post by WalterBright »

RichEO wrote: post #163
WalterBright wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value. Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

On what do you base these statements?

Listening to and reading books by economists. If you think about it, you'll see it in action all the time. After all, consider yourself. Does wealth "flow" to you? Or do you create value at your job, and exchange that value for your paycheck?

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#184

Post by WalterBright »

RichEO wrote: post #164
WalterBright wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what the fuck do we do with all these jobless people who've been replaced? Around 1800, 93% of labor in America worked on farms. Today we have jobs that were unimaginable in 1800. > "how can we replace people and save money?" and not "how can people have better lives and work less?" Those two are actually the same thing.

> Those two are actually the same thing. How exactly are they the same thing? It seems that the savings are made by the employer here at the expense of the employee. There’s no guarantee that the savings will be passed on as price cuts.

> There’s no guarantee that the savings will be passed on as price cuts.

Profit margins tend to be consistent across industries, meaning savings wind up as price cuts sooner or later.

(Unless the government interferes with the price setting incentives.)

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#185

Post by febed »

pjmlp wrote: post #6

Yet another example on how jobs will go away, goodbye voice actors.

I was quickly put off by the monotone voices. Maybe it’ll improve in a couple of years, but until then I’m sticking to real voice actors. For some books like Greenlights, I reckon you miss out on most of the impact if you don’t hear it in Matthew‘s voice.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#186

Post by noufalibrahim »

klondike_klive wrote: post #175
noufalibrahim wrote: post #148

A good human reader doesn't read as much as he dramatises the book. This conveys ideas and feelings more than what is just written. He takes liberties doing that which makes the narration interesting. I don't know if that's possible in the same way with an AI voice. I read to my kids often and try to dramatise the books in a similar way. The libre vox project which is contributer driven audio books is, I think, a mor…

When I'm reading to my kid I can respond to the situation too. We're currently going through the Chronicles of Narnia, and are finishing up the second book (The Magician's Nephew). I'll do different voices for each character (I'm a professional voice actor). But we've noticed that close to bedtime it can have an enlivening effect so that it keeps him awake, so I'll just read the voices in my normal narrator voice.

That's sweet. The "negative" effects of being too good at your job. :)

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#187

Post by WalterBright »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #170
WalterBright wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wealth in a free market is not concentrated, it is created. It does not "flow", either, as free trades are an exchange of value, not a flow of value. Wealth disparity comes from people creating different amounts of value.

Only until your business is targetted by big corp and goes bust/bankrupt. Or acquired. Then the wealth flows upwards, employees are cut, to make things more profitable, and the people who originally created something great are not getting much for it. Instead, if they are not let go, they are under new lords, who take a big chunk of the profits. Or a competitor gets VC funded and by means of marketting and sales, ins…

The reason businesses fail is they cost more to operate than the value they produce.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#188

Post by 8bitsrule »

Some human book readers have a lot more than accurate reading skills. (Can even read a title like 'Astounding Science...' (without the 3 second pause before) 'Fiction September 1959'.) https://ia801608.us.archive.org/25/items/synapseml_gutenberg...

They have wonderful voice acting skills as well. They can create multiple character voices and personalities. They can detect and express emotions appropriately, without hints from the text.

They'll continue to be highly valued, and far more enjoyable to listen to, for a -long- time.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#189

Post by fireruby »

Exactly the same scene as I use in my daily life. It feels great to have an audiobook version of any e-book. You don’t have to wait/look for any real person to complete their audio work. I have used this tool [1] to convert and listen to many books.

1. https://github.com/p0n1/epub_to_audiobook EPUB to audiobook converter with Azure TTS, optimized for Audiobookshelf.

Re: The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection

#190

Post by mathgeek »

c0pium wrote: post #128
mathgeek wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re talking about _being shown_ photos you don’t care about, while GP is talking about showing your own photos to someone. I agree with the example you’re discussing, though.

Ah, you’re talking about main character syndrome. Showing pictures to someone is one of the cruelest things you can do; you’re probably boring and a terrible storyteller (most people are) but they’re going to feel obligated to not tell you that. It’s always amazing to me that people almost universally hate other people’s slideshows, and then don’t have the self awareness to realize that they do the exact same thing.

That’s not what I’m talking about, just for clarity.
Post reply on HN