I recommend audio books, for instance from iTunes Music Store.
They are great for use in the iPod when driving, or when walking, makes the constitutional also be educational.
Some of my favorites are the books by Douglas Adams, ready by himself. And the books of Steve Martin, read by himself. And Robin Williams, interviewing various creative/famous people.
One comment though: It seems that many suppliers of audio books, as well as e-books, are pricing them the same as printed books. This is just wrong on so many levels. Production and distribution costs are a tiny fraction of those of the paper counterparts, and to not pass on part of those savings to your customer is just greedy, and it is disrespectful of your customer.
Personally I would say that about half the price (at most) would be right.
Apple iTunes charges two dollars for a downloadable 40-minute TV show without ads. That is a good price. And they charge eight dollars for a 30-minute audio interview. That is not a good price.
Yes I've been thinking of buying books online, though I don't have an MP3 player yet. Meanwhile, it looks like SONY have developed a fantastic electronic book, which uses 'e-ink' to create a display almost like real paper! I haven't seen it myself yet, but the demo on their website looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteSony Reader
Yes, it looks very promising indeed, thanks. It pretty much like the electronic reader device we have been promised for years.
ReplyDeleteIt seems doubtful though whether it will work with a Mac at all, or if one will need to bow to Gil Bates to get books onto this little wonder.
Nice to see you back after the New Year break, Eolake! ***Best wishes for 2006!***
ReplyDeleteOn E-books: a practical and useful instrument for a quick read. But I prefer to hold an (ancient) book in my hands, smell it (!) and file through the pages filled with photographs and other pieces of art.
On audio-books: usually when listening to stories read out by a single person, I almost always fall asleep, hehe - of course not when driving. Not so with audio plays, though, which can be very thrilling.
Very useful for learning a language, to listen to native speakers. Not falling asleep in this case ;-)
Greetings from Gen / Germany
Ah, the smell of a book is part of the enjoyment of reading. Especially if the smell matches that of the first proper books I read in my youth. I have noticed that different publishers use different paper and ink, so the smell is not always the same. It will be a loss when paper is no longer used for books.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem I see with the SONY Reader is that it is black and white. What about colour illustrations? Ah well, much like the iPod, I'm sure it will become colour one day.