> Indeed and this is why I read: I just don't have the patience for video, much less (shudder) audio. Both video as well as audio can have a function but neith

> Indeed and this is why I read: I just don't have the patience for video, much less (shudder) audio. Both video as well as audio can have a function but neither of them replaces written text. Video can be useful as an addition to written text in the same way that a practical demonstration adds to a lecture. Audio fills a niche all of its own since you can listen - or half-listen - to it while doing other things. As long as these sources are used in addition to a written original or base document nothing of value is lost. If video is the only source I tend to assume that the narrator does not have that much to say and skip it. If audio is the only source - as often is the case with lectures or panel discussions - I sometimes listen to it while I prepare food or build on the house or do something else which requires partial attention. I might skip back in the audio stream every now and then to catch something which went by half-heard the first time but as this is much more tedious than re-reading a paragraph in a written text the format is not a replacement for it.