Ebooks vs. Audio books

[Ebookare]

Hello again everyone.

I'm writing because I'm an avid ebook reader, but lately I've been experimenting with audio books. I've download a few audio books and most of them I've had a hard time listing to all the way through. Not because the content was awful but because the narration was. With ebooks, I can still interpret the voice and tone myself. However, I approached another ebook fan and they were adamant about audio books replacing ebooks as a new form of communication. They firmly believed that audio books offered all of the same advantages of ebooks but since they required "less work" (i.e. all you need to do is listen), they would beat out ebook.

I'm just curious to know other people's thoughts on this. So what is it ebooks or audio books?

Looking forward to your responses.

----------------------------
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[jpf]

I've never used audio books and I refrain from using them because I think the audio format imposes someone elses concept of the book in question upon the listener. It's impossible not to.
The written word leaves the interpretation of the authors work up to the reader.
Reading will always be the purest form of experiencing literature for me. The alternatives have their place and ultimately the choice is yours to make.
I consider audio a substitute for the 'real thing'.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I'm just curious to know other people's thoughts on this. So what is it ebooks or audio books?



I would say it isn't an either-or proposition. Both have their place, and it really depends on your usage pattern. I'll take reading whenever I can, but my time is severely limited by work and family. I got into audiobooks as a way of utilising the time wasted in commuting, and found I enjoyed them a great deal. The experience is quite different, and you really have to take it as a different medium entirely.

[Don't Panic!]

I like both but my experience was different from yours. I'm found of Sci-Ffi and Mystery audiobooks and I guess those genres bring out the best in narrators. Levar Burton was the best one I've listened to. I'll have to check back at audiobooksforfree to see if that Mystery title audiobook is still available. The Sci-Fi book was from Timberwolf press but I got that back in the mazingo days, You'd have to buy it now. I'll see if I can find some links.

Overall though I too enjoy e-books more than audiobooks.

"A Small Percentage" (http://www.timberwolfpress.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=books&file=index&req=view_cat&cid=6) Sci-Fi Timberwolf Press

I couldn't find the mystery again at www.audiobooksforfree.com .

[Jorgen]

Some people are auditive and prefer audio books. Other people are visually minded and prefer reading.

Jorgen

[Don't Panic!]

Does that mean I'm Bi? 8O
















polar that is. :) 8) 0X

[JDTagish]

[quote="Don't Panic!"]Does that mean I'm Bi? 8O

ROFL!

Actually, I like both audiobooks and ebooks. I enjoy audiobooks while driving, especially on long trips or while sitting in traffic, and sometimes while I am having trouble falling asleep I'll put on headphones and drift off that way. Audiobooks are also great on planes. I've heard some cruddy narrators, but then I know who to avoid in the future. Jim Dale, the guy who reads the Harry Potter audiobooks is the best! I also find that I only really enjoy listening to books that I have already read. That way I have my interpretation and can just let myself go amd enjoy listening.

But, nothing could replace a book, or ebook. Not only because of the interpretation and the exploration that takes place, but because I LIKE to read. I find it keeps my brain active, and my imagination as well.

[disconnected]

Ebooks, exclusively. For some reason, my mind wanders when I try listening to audiobooks, and I also find some of the voices annoying.

However, I'm all for anything that might increase Pocket PC sales, and audiobooks could help. I've read that some libraries are starting to offer downloadable audiobooks (as well as ebooks). I forget where I read it, or which libraries, but the article I read said that the audiobooks could be used on Windows devices (PCs and PPCs), but not ipods, so if the trend grows, it might persuade more people to buy Windows Mobile devices of some kind.

[Jordan Rosenwald]

I've done the ebook thing, but audio books are still my favorite. For me it harkens back to the days of radio serials (no, I'm not dating myself, those were actually way before my time).

Also, when you consider the spoken word was the original way to convey stories and history, audio books are actually closer to the 'real thing' :)

[dMores]

as a kid i used to love audiobooks.
but now, i just don't like to listen to books.
sometimes it's the voice that i find distracting, but i guess mainly, when i listen to a book, i do something simultaneously, thereby reducing my concentration.
when i read, i do just that. i'm already having trouble remembering the title of the book i'm currently reading, i even forget the story after a short while, so i guess hearing it would not improve that situation.

although ... i do seem to remember a lot of movie quotes.
i guess i would remember the book, but i just don't like to listen to it :)

but ... to each his own!

[MariEmerald]

I listen to ebooks while in the car because I have long hour-long drives on a weekly basis to my university because I am an audial learning - learn through listening. I listen to dramatize Shakespeare plays and recently a biography on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. I visualize the said dialogue and description in my mind but I agree, the voice of the reader does tend to influence positively or negatively what I think about the storyline.


Ebooks, on the other hand, are even more wonderul since I can carry 50+ books in my Dell Axim and read inline, online, off the wall...whereever! But both audio and ebooks have their utility and usefullness. MS reader wonderfully takes me to the page I last read, allows me to see snipets of the book at a time therefore concentrating my attention, and allows me to enjoy my reading more than lying down holding a heavy biography in my hands! I LOVE ebooks!

- Mari
http://drivenentrepreneur.tripod.com/marisblog

[uwaku]

I'm a strong advocate of all three formats: paper, electronic, and audio.

My wife & I are collectors, with over 2,000 books in our library.

I have over 8,000 ebooks and usually carry around at least five or six on my PDA. The biggest use I got was when I recently deployed to the Middle East for the Iraq War; instead of carting around boxes of books (we didn't have much cargo space), I took my (then) HandEra 330 with about 150 ebooks on a CF card. Much easier and handy (no pun intended).

Finally, I tend to hit libraries and borrow every single book on CD thay have, rip them to MP3s, then burn them to CDR. an unabridged 10-CD book will easily fit on one MP3 CD, and my car stereo reads MP3 CDs. I have a book of almost 300 books in MP3 format, and add more every week.

The only downside is that I'm reading three books at once; paper at home, and audio in the car. For those who multitask, it's not a problem.

[dMores]

being the type of person who forgets the title of the book he's reading as soon as he's scrolled past page one, i doubt your multitasking method would help me.

i'd end up with very interesting associations in my brain; three stories mashed into one :)

[PetiteFlower]

I can't do audiobooks. For one, I don't tend to process things that I hear as well as things I see/read, so the story wouldn't really sink in and I'd get the characters all mixed up. For another, I can read much faster then someone can read to me, so the slowness would bore me to tears! I'm a huge fan of ebooks though.