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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

#71

Post by ozim »

pmoriarty wrote: post #50

I want to recommend a great source of free, public domain audiobooks: Librivox.[1] It's like the Project Gutenberg of audiobooks, recorded by volunteers. The quality of their readers varies, but there are some surprisingly good readers on there, such as my favorite so far, David Clarke, who did a superb reading of The Count of Monte Cristo .[2] [1] - https://librivox.org/ [2] - https://librivox.org/the-count-of-monte…

I use librivox material to learn foreign languages which is awesome, because I can have an e-book and audio book and read words while native speaker is pronouncing them. I have used Anna Karenina and Tom Sawyer.

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

#72

Post by panglott »

Such a strange frame for this article: Some people like to listen to lots of audiobooks, and get more reading in that way. It must be addictive! Let's tie it to trends we like to finger-wag about, like multitasking and productivity culture!

Maybe some people just like reading/listening to books rather than watching TV and noodling on their phones all the time? And that's OK?

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

#73

Post by oh_sigh »

jpalomaki wrote: post #29

Audible subscription and wireless, noise canceling headphones. Listening a book while taking one hour walk from office to home is a pleasure. Noise canceling headphones are important for me as they cut down the traffic noise. Audible subscription makes buying easy and removes the "is this book worth this much" decision. One problem with the audiobooks is that you can't flip through the pages or search to recall somet…

Have you ever considered a helicopter could be crashing down on you and you would never know?

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

#74

Post by twoquestions »

riffraff wrote: post #58
twoquestions wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Listening a book while taking one hour walk from office to home is a pleasure. Have you had problems being disconnected from the world around you with such a setup? I'd like to take more walks instead of sitting more when I get home, but I'd be worried about being hit by a car or something I didn't hear.

I'm probably missing something here, but: sidewalks? I've also been listening while walking around/using public transport for many years, you can usually just pause the thing when you're in a situation that requires more attention (e.g. crossing) but generally it's better than walking while reading. The problem is more that if many things are happening you tend to lose track of the book. But that's why apps have "go…

I live in a suburb, we don't have many sidewalks and we don't walk anywhere. I've been yelled at and nearly run over for using crosswalks, and walking to get where you're going is something only the poorest of the poor do here. Sad, really.

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

#75

Post by chc »

pmoriarty wrote: post #57
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.

It really depends on what I'm doing. If I'm drawing or walking, for instance, I can do those things and focus on the book. If I'm trying to read something else or program, then it's always a matter of focusing on one or the other, and then it's like you say. The rewinding bit is why rewinding, bookmarking, and navigation features of audio players are critical to me. I really hate bare-bones audio player interfaces th…

I feel like the main factor in whether I can do something and listen to an audiobook is whether I need to use language for the other task. For example, I can cook while listening to an audiobook, but I have to pause if I'm going to refer to the recipe, even though the process of alternately stirring a base and slicing vegetables without chopping off my finger requires more concentration than determining from the recipe which measuring spoon I need.

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

#76

Post by voidhorse »

"When one reads too quickly or too slowly, one understands nothing" - Pascal

The same likely applies when reading too often and too little.

My brain needs time to synthesize information. I'd be very impressed if the subject of that little anecdote at the beginning of this article--that guy who apparently reads even while brushing his teeth--recalls more than 30% of the content he listens to.

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

#77

Post by Crito »

DanBC wrote: post #67
dyeje wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really no different from listening to the radio.

It's not the "listening to audio" bit that's worrying, it's the "task is one you can perform automatically (e.g. highway driving)" which is scary.

Unless you're an unskilled driver, driving becomes "automatic" in much the same way that riding a bike does. When you ride a bike, are you concentrating on not falling over? Maybe for the first week or so that you're learning...

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

#78

Post by enraged_camel »

dyeje wrote: post #60
DanBC wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when the other task is one you can perform automatically (e.g. highway driving) Fucking hell no, please do focus your attention on driving.

It's really no different from listening to the radio.

For what it's worth, I find the radio enormously distracting as well. In fact, I find all conversation happening in the car distracting.

I've narrowly avoided several accidents because I was able to hear the other vehicle approaching, because I always pay full attention to my surroundings. When the radio is on though, or passengers are talking, it becomes very difficult to notice those types of subtle cues.

For this reason I have an explicit "no talking" rule when I have others in the car with me. Doesn't make me the most popular person when it comes to carpooling, but whatever, I'll take safety over idle chatter anytime.

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

#79

Post by Crito »

TTS is what I use. I picked up a used old kindle keyboard, one of the versions that still had the feature. I slip that into my jacket pocket when I go on walks. It's nice because you're not limited on selection. The robotic nature of the voice fades away after an hour or two of listening to it.

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

#80

Post by TillE »

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've had much better luck with podcasts. It's harder to tune out a conversation when multitasking, as opposed to a single narrator.
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