Are Audiobooks Reading?

[Salmiakki]

17 hours ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

As someone who listens to audiobooks for a minimum of 5 hours a day (though usually as many 8-10 hours)

Damn, that's a lot of hours spent on audiobooks. How do you have time for that?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Salmiakki said:

Damn, that's a lot of hours spent on audiobooks. How do you have time for that?

I listen during the vast majority of the time that I'm not actively working. So when I'm walking (up to 2.5 hours every day), while I'm cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, vacuuming (all up usually about 4 hours every day), then while I'm relaxing in the evening and drawing (another few hours unless I watch a show) and also while I fall asleep - I have this weird thing where I can remember exactly what happened right before I fell asleep, and can go back to that exact point in the morning when I get up

 

The only time I don't listen to audiobooks is when I'm working (because I write, so I need to concentrate on my own words!), when I'm with the kids like at the park or taking them to school or doing whatever with them, and when I'm watching a show. Otherwise, the rest of the time I am absorbed in a book while my body does it's tasks on autopilot!! (Maybe something to do with being fictoromantic? The fictional world is as vital as the meat world to me and if it wasn't for my kids, the fictional world would be the ONLY world for me)

[Zagadka]

I can't do audiobooks - I have problems processing audio properly, I just don't retain anything. But I do consider consuming the content the same as reading.

[everywhere and nowhere]

For me it's a bit lazy. No, I don't want to be judgemental to people who listen to audiobooks, but when I hear about my friend listening to the Bible, it almost makes me laugh.

She says that her eyes hurt from reading... I have strabismus, no stereoscopic vision, I'm a fair bit short-sighted - according to a test performed, my visual acuity is 0,6 in left eye and 0,7 in the right eye. (Sounds scary, but in practice? It just means that I can't read any posters, signs etc. from a larger distance.*) And I have never felt eye fatigue. So I consider it more a matter of being used. I am certainly used to reading, I have been readng since the age of 5 (with Polish children still normally starting school at 7).

Anyway, I absolutely hate audiobooks. Just consider it: listening... to... a... spoken... text... is... always... quite... slow. And reading - even for people who have never had an opportunity to learn speed reading techniques (and, to be honest, I don't even trust the most extreme ones, I don't believe that you can assimilate all information by looking at a page during a few seconds) - is, on average, much faster. So, for me, it's simple: listening instead of reading = waste of time.

Again, not judging those who like it. But I just don't.

Listening without doing anything else is boring to me! I sometimes listen to stuff, for example political discussions - but I'm always solving puzzles at the same time, I can't listen without doing other things.

 

*I can only show an example, because - as a person lacking stereoscopic vision and a non-driver - I am absolutely unable to estimate distances. This is how a station of the Warsaw metro looks like. On stations were the stairs are at the extreme ends of a platform (particularly the older ones), I can't read the time shown on that display screen when I'm standing at the end of the platform, close to the stairs - unfortunately, there's no display for each direction on the far end, only in the front and in the middle.

[Anthracite_Impreza]

1 hour ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

if it wasn't for my kids cars, the fictional world would be the ONLY world for me

And yet I don't read (or listen if we're being pernickity) at all any more, unless you count the odd fanfic or my own writing. All my fictional stuff comes from films, games, my own chars and RPing. I just get bored reading in general now computers exist.

[Gloomy]

No. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve recently started listening to audiobooks at work during my more mundane tasks like data entry, and I’ve quite enjoyed it even if I technically wasn’t reading those books.

[Guest]

 

7 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

For me it's a bit lazy.

Hah it's the opposite for me. I don't consider the act of reading itself 'lazy' but I do consider it a luxury - being able to just sit down and relax and read, using your own voices in your head and stuff. Gah, the days of being able to indulge like that just don't exist for me anymore.

 

I'd love to have the time to sit down and actually relax with a book, that is one of the most amazing things ever.. But heck, I get so absorbed that I need many hours every day to read and that time just doesn't exist for me as I'm on the go for so much of the day, on such a consistent basis.

 

Audiobooks to the rescue for an insanely busy person!!!

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

I just get bored reading in general now computers exist

Sometimes it's a character who solely exists in a show or movie that I fall for. Last would be Jakup from Ødeland which praise Jesus is only 30 minutes long. That's sooooo much less draining. But when it's say a TV series and also a series of huge books (which thank god are available for free on YT or I'd be over $100 out of pocket now having to buy them on Audible) then I have no choice but to obsessively consume it all even though I get drained and it's concerning not knowing what is going to happen to the object of affection, or who they may fall for (which honestly is very difficult to cope with). I just feel like I don't even have a choice, even if i did find it boring Y_Y I think it's good that you can be fulfilled without having to obsess over very, very long book series - honestly they can be a real struggle (emotionally) if one gets to involved as one has no real control over what's happening - it's so stressful!!! But at the same time I love it. I just wish I didn't have to become emotionally 'involved' and could just enjoy them for what they are. Sigh.

[SithLord]

7 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

She says that her eyes hurt from reading... I have strabismus, no stereoscopic vision, I'm a fair bit short-sighted - according to a test performed, my visual acuity is 0,6 in left eye and 0,7 in the right eye. (Sounds scary, but in practice? It just means that I can't read any posters, signs etc. from a larger distance.*) And I have never felt eye fatigue. So I consider it more a matter of being used. I am certainly used to reading, I have been readng since the age of 5 (with Polish children still normally starting school at 7).

Not sure all the eye problems that exist in the world, but The Dom on YouTube promotes it as helping those suffering from dyslexia. He said learning to read was harder for him and even though he loves it now, he still loves audiobooks. I imagine there are those who legitimately audiobooks are a life saver for their eyes, like older people who need special reading glasses or font to br printed longer. And no, I don't just mean people needing glasses to read. My mom has trifocles and can only read by tilting her head at a really weird angle or to take them off and hold the book really close. That's more what I'm meaning. 

 

8 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

So, for me, it's simple: listening instead of reading = waste of time.

...

Listening without doing anything else is boring to me! I sometimes listen to stuff, for example political discussions - but I'm always solving puzzles at the same time, I can't listen without doing other things.

I agree. But I'm like Pan where I tend to be doing multiple things at a time, hence why I can't read a written book. I would rather listen to a book while I'm driving or walking to the store or shopping or doing things that having my head down and face focused on reading books would be dangerous or eyebrow-raising. So I'd rather listen to a book while mindlessly doing puzzles on my phone. I wish I could do it at my desk while doing mindless corrections.

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, SithEmpress said:

Not sure all the eye problems that exist in the world, but The Dom on YouTube promotes it as helping those suffering from dyslexia. He said learning to read was harder for him and even though he loves it now, he still loves audiobooks. I imagine there are those who legitimately audiobooks are a life saver for their eyes, like older people who need special reading glasses or font to br printed longer. And no, I don't just mean people needing glasses to read. My mom has trifocles and can only read by tilting her head at a really weird angle or to take them off and hold the book really close. That's more what I'm meaning. 

My brother has a condition called Dyspraxia which apparently is like an extreme form of dyslexia where you actually can't learn how to read. Something to do with the connections in the brain or something. Anyway because he was diagnosed with this, the National Library of NZ used to send him a huge box of cassette tapes once every two months ever since he was like 10 years old (and I was 12). Damn, getting a new box of tapes was always sooooo awesome. Me, my brother, and my mum would always dive right in and each choose the stories we wanted to listen to, then swap them all after we were finished. The library picked out whatever for us, so sometimes it was like... all romance or whatever (haha) but it was the best we had in the days before the internet and it was so good for all of us. My brother was able to consume more literature than most kids his age ever would, despite not being able to read. I would sit in my room and draw for hours and hours (sometimes up to 16 hours straight) while listening to stories, and mum was a full-time self-employed artist so she was able to look after 5 kids, work full-time from home, and listen to books all day too. It was the best thing ever

 

Sometimes, like you said, for all kinds of reasons, actually sitting down to read isn't practical. Audiobooks are just the best thing ever in situations like that!!! (even though I do love reading and would do it more if there was more hours in the day!!!)

[everywhere and nowhere]

3 hours ago, SithEmpress said:

I agree. But I'm like Pan where I tend to be doing multiple things at a time, hence why I can't read a written book. I would rather listen to a book while I'm driving or walking to the store or shopping or doing things that having my head down and face focused on reading books would be dangerous or eyebrow-raising. So I'd rather listen to a book while mindlessly doing puzzles on my phone. I wish I could do it at my desk while doing mindless corrections.

Well, and I'll never ever drive. I refuse to accept the ability to harm an innocent person - and I'm unable to concentrate on such stuff, I could only be a very bad driver, so I gave up any attempts forever. So one less activity. And by all means I can read when travelling with the bus, tram, train, metro*...

 

*Btw, a few years ago I've accidentally had an opportunity to "complete" all methods of public transit available in Warsaw: metro, tram, bus and local train.

I very-hardly-ever travel without reading.

[SithLord]

5 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Well, and I'll never ever drive. I refuse to accept the ability to harm an innocent person - and I'm unable to concentrate on such stuff, I could only be a very bad driver, so I gave up any attempts forever. So one less activity. And by all means I can read when travelling with the bus, tram, train, metro*...

 

*Btw, a few years ago I've accidentally had an opportunity to "complete" all methods of public transit available in Warsaw: metro, tram, bus and local train.

I very-hardly-ever travel without reading.

I'm actually rather jealous. When I can get around without driving, I love it. But most of the places I've lived have had public transportation that wouldn't be able to get me where I needed to go. I'd also love the time to be able to sit and read. But I guess we all choose what's best for us in the end. 

[everywhere and nowhere]

18 minutes ago, SithEmpress said:

I'm actually rather jealous. When I can get around without driving, I love it. But most of the places I've lived have had public transportation that wouldn't be able to get me where I needed to go. I'd also love the time to be able to sit and read. But I guess we all choose what's best for us in the end. 

So fight for good public transit! It should be available everywhere. First, for environmental reasons - mass private car ownership is just not sustainable - and also because everywhere in the world there are people like me, people who just can't drive. And also for many other reasons.

Have you heard about the Lewis-Mogridge position? Interestingly, there is a Polish professor who wrote basically the same already in 1983, when, under communist conditions, vastly fewer people had cars (so the capacity of road network was not fully used*). In his wording: "Travelling by car is so attractive and comfortable that - regardless of efficiency of public transit and cost-effectiveness - cars are used to an extent only limited by capacity of the system and parking lots".

*And, unfortunately, very wide main streets - originally built for official parades rather than for cars - are a trademark of communist cities. Left-bank Warsaw was almost fully destroyed during the war, so it was rebuilt with such huge urban "highways". (And the huge advertisements visible are another thing to be ashamed of, which is why I'll never accept unregulated capitalism either.)

[Anthracite_Impreza]

4 hours ago, Pan Ficto. (on hiatus?) said:

I think it's good that you can be fulfilled without having to obsess over very, very long book series

I might not obsess over reading but I obsess over other things don't worry >.< Autism has that effect and as much as I love my obsessions, they're so intense as to take over my life...

 

Not everything has to be about your hatred of cars @Nowhere Girl, jesus.

[daveb]

I wish I could listen to audio books, but my mind wanders too much when I try and I lose the plot as it were. I think it's too passive for me personally. I guess I'm not a good listener.  

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Nowhere Girl said:

people who just can't drive.

 Same!! That's another reason I love audiobooks though, because I listen while I walk

 

 

(why is my writing so tiny???)

[Guest]

8 hours ago, SithEmpress said:

I'm actually rather jealous. When I can get around without driving, I love it. But most of the places I've lived have had public transportation that wouldn't be able to get me where I needed to go. I'd also love the time to be able to sit and read. But I guess we all choose what's best for us in the end. 

 I live in a small drinking town with a fishing problem (heh) so I can get most places I need to go by walking as I also am unable to drive. When I need to get to the city I take the bus (it costs $26 and stays in the city got 6 hours) so I have 6 hours to rush around like mad - still on foot - getting what I need to get done like buying new shoes for the kids or whatever it is I'm doing. All of this gives me even *more* time to listen to my audiobooks so I'm happy for any excuse to have to walk somewhere, haha.

 

oh and if I didn't have to get home for the kids I wouldn't even take the bus, I'd just walk into town up the coast which would take about 3 hours. I'd sleep in town the night (a nice big bush on the riverbank would be ample shelter!) and walk back home the next day..  after charging my phone in Starbucks of course so I can keep listening to my audiobooks, haha. I wouldn't do that while I have kids though because that kind of thing does slightly increase one's risk of a dangerous demise, but that was always my preferred way to live before I had kids

[Guest]

Why should it matter if it is or not. People should use their own judgment! Everything  else does not matter. 

[Skycaptain]

I look at it this way. The narrator is reading the book. If you read a story aloud to a young child, for example, that's reading. 

[timewarp]

2 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

I look at it this way. The narrator is reading the book. If you read a story aloud to a young child, for example, that's reading. 

Not sure. I wouldn't read too much into that.

[Guest]

Memory chips (like RAM) are "read" using modulated electrical signals, optical drives read by shining a laser beam and measuring the varying reflection and hard/floppy drives and magnetic "tapes" read by measuring the change of the magnetic polarity of the "grain" on the medium.

 

Humans can "read" by visual, audio and tactile. If anyone's watched the first series of Red Dwarf they could say they read scented books with one's nose too. 😸

 

If one is blind and has an audio reader, how can you really say they haven't read a book or whatever?

[GingerRose]

They are listening and good to help those read along or just listen.

They shouldn't have a stigma, they serve a great purpose to many.

[Guest]

On 5/15/2020 at 2:33 PM, ItsAlwaysPrideDay said:

They aren’t reading, but it’s still enjoyable.

 

 

So if you listened to Harry Potter (random example) on audiobook, but never had a physical copy of the books, would you say you haven't read Harry Potter if someone asks you about it?

 

The conversation would go

 

"hey have you read Harry Potter?"

 

and you'd have to say "no".

 

Or if you said "no I've listened to it" they'd say "oh okay so who's your favourite character that wasn't in the movies?" and you'd be able to answer in exactly the same way as any other person who had a physical copy of the book So you've definitely read it, just using a different medium than a hard copy.

 

Would you say a blind person had never read Harry Potter if they only listened to the audiobooks but never had a physical copy of the books?

 

(Sorry to put you on the spot, haha)

 

[Soul Searcher]

Just yesterday, I started with my very first audiobook- The fellowship of the ring. Five minutes into it and I realized that is not for me. I'd  rather stick with regular reading.

[Luftschlosseule]

I don't get why you should be a snob about other people's hobbies. So yes, audibooks count as reading, just as comics and picture books are books.

[iff]

My favourite audiobook

 

 

Spoiler

Also my only audiobook

 

[daveb]

On 5/15/2020 at 7:56 PM, PanFicto. said:

audiobook

Knowing you like Mr. Cumberbatch and like to listen to audiobooks I thought of you when I saw this. (I hope it works in your country - It's "Benedict Cumberbatch Reads Sherlock Holmes"). Have you seen/listened to it?

 

[iff]

@Zagadka

 

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