
Just a few thoughts on this audio book subscription service I just joined....
Back in the day, to combat my bus commute, dog walks, and downtime at my desk, I bought an iPod. Wow, what a godsend. When podcasts became mainstream, I thought that eternal happiness and contentment would forever reign. However, when my one of my regular go-to podcasts, "This Week In Tech", started blathering on about "reading" through audiobooks, I initially thought "bah! I got my podcasts. Got all I need".
But, after years of podcast listening, I guess I was ready for a change. I visited Audible's site, I was impressed by their offer: 8 bucks for three months. You get to pick a book a month. So, I set up an account, plunked down my credit card, and picked my first book. I selected Andre Agassi's book "Open".
I've been audio-reading(?) for about 3 weeks now. Here's my thoughts on being an audio-reader:
Book narcolepsy - whenever I read a book, I get painfully sleepy. No matter where I'm at: bus, bed, couch, airport; I flip through the pages and my eyelids slam shut. There must be a weird connection between my brain's sleep centre and my eyes, because when I listen to a book, I'm as alert as if I just had 3 cups of coffee. I can "read" for hours.
Page cheating - a bad habit I always had was to skip ahead. Temptation always got the better of me, no matter enthralling the plot was. I would skip whole paragraph, sometimes pages, even flirting with the idea of skipping whole chapters. You can't do that with an audiobook. The narrator holds your hand through each word, each word that you've paid for, by the way. Geez, its like I'm maximizing my Return on Investment on this book. Perfect!
Good brain workout - I don't know if there's any neuroscience behind this or not, but since I'm finding myself concentrating on something for hours at a time, isn't this like exercise for the brain?
Straight from the horse's mouth - I haven't encountered this yet, but I can imagine that audio-reading an autobiography being spoken by the actual person would almost immerse you in that person's life.
So, very positive experience so far. I am now a book worm. There's not even a worry about finding the place in the book where you left off, your iPod/iPhone remembers the place for you.
Highly recommend. My two-cents.