The funny thing about getting
a person started on an audio book is convincing them first
that it's really no different from a regular book. It seems
that the leap from the printed page to a compact disk has
left a lot of people skeptical about how easy it is to use
and appreciate the technology behind mp3 audio books. The
age bracket also comes into play; much younger people are
harder to convince than older ones.
It was easier to get an old grandmother to listen to an
audio book cd of William Butler Yeats poems because she had
been listening to the British Broadcasting Company all her
life and BBC has radio programs which feature serialized
classics. But the audiobook in its basic form has come a
long way since the oral histories of Native American tribes
were recorded for research and posterity by anthropologist
J.P. Harrington in 1933.
The immediate obvious use of course was for people with
hearing disabilities and the American Congress created the
"Books for the Adult Blind Project" which actually utilized
talking-books and in a short while, the mass reproduction of
them began. In later years the audio book would take the
form of public-service, with institutions like the National
Library Service putting out millions of copies of recorded
books to blind citizens all across the country.
Free audio books abound on the internet and I'll be
providing several links to find the best
audio books online
and where you can
download audio books you're most
interested in.
The Audio Book and Popular Culture
It was technology which pushed the audio books on tape and
CD format into the realm of popular culture and mass
consumer patronage. In the 60s, the development of the
cassette player recorder allowed not only ease of use, but
portability. In an age where everyone was trumpeting
self-improvement, recordings of an instructional or
educational nature became popular, reaching its peak with
self-help audio books and then naturally including general
topics such as the humanities.
It became so main-stream that with the advent of the compact
disc, audio book recordings developed its own market
complete with rentals and producers who wanted a bigger
slice of what had become a billion-dollar industry by
introducing high-quality recordings done with large cast of
voices and polished in high-tech studios.
Today, the mp3 book has leapt into cyberspace and into 21st
century technology that has made it more accessible than
ever before. CD audio books can now be downloaded and its
formats fitted unto any digital listening device such as
phones and MP3 players. Married with such hip and cutting
edge modern tools, appreciation for a classic such as Jane
Austen or William Shakespeare is expected to grow even among
a generation who would be more inclined to read a comic
book.
Perhaps the irony of the invention of the
mp3 audio book is
not in replacing the medium that it has somewhat replaced,
but in drawing back attention to printed books. After all,
when you're tired of having ear-plugs on your phone the
whole day, nothing beats the relaxation and magic of lying
down in bed on a cold Saturday afternoon with a good
old-fashioned book.
-- Resource Box --
This article may be
distributed freely on your website, as long as
this entire article, including links and this resource box
are unchanged.
Copyright October, 2007
Terry Lamb All Rights Reserved.
Terry Lamb LLC
http://www.audiobook123.com
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