4 ms·

I like audiobooks, but they have some limitations. Nonfiction -- for example. Figures, diagrams, photographs, ... don't translate to audio very smoothly. I

I like audiobooks, but they have some limitations. Nonfiction -- for example. Figures, diagrams, photographs, ... don't translate to audio very smoothly. In a printed book, eyeballs can tell readers where the quotations, either in quotation marks or indented text blocks, start and end. But what does the audiobook narrator do with them. I hear some saying 'quote' and 'unquote.' But then I wonder whether they are doing that for all the quotations or only for the quotations that don't provide some good clue for the listener to infer that it is a quote. And nested quotes must sound just about atrocious, although I cannot remember hearing any. Why not? Another problem may be that publishers may develop modern technology that can make it difficult to pass an audiobook from one reader to another, even if it has been purchased. Used audiobooks on CD can be found (but not conveniently) at some thrift shops, typically less than $1.00 per hour of listnening, but CD as a medium for audiobook publishing seems to be now a dead end, and it is not possible to tell for sure by looking at a old and used CD whether or not it is in good enough condition to play on one's home or car equipment. The typical prices for new audiobooks (on whatever media they are published) appears to be approaching something closer to $5 per hour, and even used audiobooks sold on websites offering a large selection are often around half that much. I am around 40 hours per month of audiobook listening, and that is a little bit beyond my price point. Librivox is a great free source, but they are somewhat short of titles newer than 1922, if that matters to you.

zuppy 3y ago
I think the limitations may come from how the author saw the final product. I have a good example where audo works (in my opinion) better than text on "Measure What Matters". Here you actually have some the people who had a significant impact on business & tech world telling their stories in their own voice. Most of the audiobooks are build as an afterthought on top of the original text.
BossingAround 3y ago
> I like audiobooks, but they have some limitations. Nonfiction -- for example. Figures, diagrams, photographs, ... don't translate to audio very smoothly. In a printed book, eyeballs can tell readers where the quotations, either in quotation marks or indented text blocks, start and end. But what does the audiobook narrator do with them. New Audible audiobooks come with a PDF, and the narrator says "see figure 1 for the figure I am about to describe" or something similar. A simple fix to your problem.
- lucas_membrane 3y ago
  But I listen to audiobooks while exercising. No way to look at a computer screen or fool with a printed document. Same would be true for those who listen to the audiobooks while driving.
  - BossingAround 3y ago
    You can always go back to that section later after exercising/driving. Of course there's no picture -> audio transformation with 0 information loss.

zuppy 3y ago

I think the limitations may come from how the author saw the final product. I have a good example where audo works (in my opinion) better than text on "Measure What Matters". Here you actually have some the people who had a significant impact on business & tech world telling their stories in their own voice. Most of the audiobooks are build as an afterthought on top of the original text.

BossingAround 3y ago

> I like audiobooks, but they have some limitations. Nonfiction -- for example. Figures, diagrams, photographs, ... don't translate to audio very smoothly. In a printed book, eyeballs can tell readers where the quotations, either in quotation marks or indented text blocks, start and end. But what does the audiobook narrator do with them. New Audible audiobooks come with a PDF, and the narrator says "see figure 1 for the figure I am about to describe" or something similar. A simple fix to your problem.

lucas_membrane 3y ago
But I listen to audiobooks while exercising. No way to look at a computer screen or fool with a printed document. Same would be true for those who listen to the audiobooks while driving.
- BossingAround 3y ago
  You can always go back to that section later after exercising/driving. Of course there's no picture -> audio transformation with 0 information loss.