It seems that with all the technology we now have in our lives that audio books have now surfaced to the front of that. This may seem strange as they have been around for decades but now (I hate to say this) they have an app for that. We have had the ebook fad which has made our “busy” lives so much easier and kept us in touch with our imagination. But now that has died down a bit it seems that audio books are beginning to play a part in a lot of people's day to day lives. I have noticed this due to the fact that I have be sucked into it myself with the latest venture from Amazon; Audible. I initially signed up to Audible to try out a book I wasn't sure about and didn't know if I wanted to buy the book outright. So I signed up to the free trial with the intention (that we all have with these things) of cancelling it once the free period was up.
After downloading the app and all that hoo-ha I made the most of the book I had downloaded and didn't think much of it. But then my month was up and low and behold the money had left my account so I had a credit to use. One credit meant one book so which one to choose? It wasn't until then that I realised how extensive the selection was on Audible; thousands and thousands of titles from the well known to the obscure read by the known and the unknown all ripe for the picking. I ended up settling for another book I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy outright as, technically, I had already paid for it.
I started listening to my new book whenever I could as it way 16 hours long and so darn convenient. I found I could listen at work (on the sly), while doing menial house crap and when baking. I ignored all the mocking from certain individuals (Karina) about being a “busy modern woman” and all the rest of it because I have finally found a way I can read and get everything else done.
This makes me sound like one of those lifestyle people and i'm telling you how to read, feed the cat, do your washing, have a full time job, perfect hair and the perfect cupcake recipe all at the same time, but I am not, bear with me on this one.
Reading is super important to me and I don't feel right unless I have a story to focus on or a universe to dream up or a plot to figure out and audio books gave me this freedom. However; it wasn't until this week that I realised I hadn't actually read a book in two months! I was stunned, I felt ashamed of myself in a weird way and i'm not sure why. I bypassed the ebook phase because it didn't feel right, a book is made of pages and has that wonderful smell that all page turners love but now here I am using a completely different sensory conductor altogether and saying it is legit. Does this make me a hypocrite or just busy?
It then had me thinking about new authors and how this would affect them. Cutting a decent copy of an audio book and distributing it must be pretty difficult and I can imagine costs a small chunk of change, meaning that as well as trying to self publish in print form and electronically they also have to find a way of creating a sound file of their book to appeal to people such as myself that appear to have (unfortunately) given up their lives to more “pressing” matters.
I know that audio books are not a new thing but with them now being so readily available and in app form means that the use of them could rise higher and higher causing us to distance ourselves from books even further. I don't think we will ever be rid of the faithful old paperback and I hope that we never are, but I do think we should tread carefully with the new technology we are given and make sure, as I have promised to do, pick up a proper book every once in a while and make sure we support the new authors of the world.
We at A.O. Would love to hear your opinions on the rise of audio books, leave us a comment or tweet us @aestheticodd and let us know your opinion!
Finally; to all those celebrating a holiday or festival in the coming weeks we hope you have a great time celebrating and see you next week!
The A.O. team
After downloading the app and all that hoo-ha I made the most of the book I had downloaded and didn't think much of it. But then my month was up and low and behold the money had left my account so I had a credit to use. One credit meant one book so which one to choose? It wasn't until then that I realised how extensive the selection was on Audible; thousands and thousands of titles from the well known to the obscure read by the known and the unknown all ripe for the picking. I ended up settling for another book I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy outright as, technically, I had already paid for it.
I started listening to my new book whenever I could as it way 16 hours long and so darn convenient. I found I could listen at work (on the sly), while doing menial house crap and when baking. I ignored all the mocking from certain individuals (Karina) about being a “busy modern woman” and all the rest of it because I have finally found a way I can read and get everything else done.
This makes me sound like one of those lifestyle people and i'm telling you how to read, feed the cat, do your washing, have a full time job, perfect hair and the perfect cupcake recipe all at the same time, but I am not, bear with me on this one.
Reading is super important to me and I don't feel right unless I have a story to focus on or a universe to dream up or a plot to figure out and audio books gave me this freedom. However; it wasn't until this week that I realised I hadn't actually read a book in two months! I was stunned, I felt ashamed of myself in a weird way and i'm not sure why. I bypassed the ebook phase because it didn't feel right, a book is made of pages and has that wonderful smell that all page turners love but now here I am using a completely different sensory conductor altogether and saying it is legit. Does this make me a hypocrite or just busy?
It then had me thinking about new authors and how this would affect them. Cutting a decent copy of an audio book and distributing it must be pretty difficult and I can imagine costs a small chunk of change, meaning that as well as trying to self publish in print form and electronically they also have to find a way of creating a sound file of their book to appeal to people such as myself that appear to have (unfortunately) given up their lives to more “pressing” matters.
I know that audio books are not a new thing but with them now being so readily available and in app form means that the use of them could rise higher and higher causing us to distance ourselves from books even further. I don't think we will ever be rid of the faithful old paperback and I hope that we never are, but I do think we should tread carefully with the new technology we are given and make sure, as I have promised to do, pick up a proper book every once in a while and make sure we support the new authors of the world.
We at A.O. Would love to hear your opinions on the rise of audio books, leave us a comment or tweet us @aestheticodd and let us know your opinion!
Finally; to all those celebrating a holiday or festival in the coming weeks we hope you have a great time celebrating and see you next week!
The A.O. team