I adore real life books, but I read at night whilst my partner sleeps. The backlit ereader is an absolute delight.
I also disagree with calling audio books “reading”.
I’m not saying is is a worse way to experience the content of the book, and I enjoy it myself, but it is a fundamentally different experience based on different senses and different mechanisms.
As someone who had an almost decade-long gap between Wheel of Time books because my ADHD no longer permitted book reading at a certain point, I would respectfully disagree. Audio books have been a God Send in the last few years, discovering I can still enjoy past pleasures in full by exploiting myself in circumstances that are beneficial. Audio books have me back part of my life I had accepted as lost forever.
You can still enjoy the content, but the process isn’t reading that’s all.
I enjoy them too. Audio books are great. Several members of my family are blind and it is a form we can enjoy.
Interestingly the fact that several people can enjoy an audiobook at once supports my argument that it is not reading… A somewhat solo pursuit unless someone reads aloud.
So, respectfully, I think you’ve got the wrong end of this stick.
But I do want to say that it gives me genuine pleasure that you’ve found a way to enjoy those stories.
I adore real life books, but I read at night whilst my partner sleeps. The backlit ereader is an absolute delight.
I also disagree with calling audio books “reading”.
I’m not saying is is a worse way to experience the content of the book, and I enjoy it myself, but it is a fundamentally different experience based on different senses and different mechanisms.
As someone who had an almost decade-long gap between Wheel of Time books because my ADHD no longer permitted book reading at a certain point, I would respectfully disagree. Audio books have been a God Send in the last few years, discovering I can still enjoy past pleasures in full by exploiting myself in circumstances that are beneficial. Audio books have me back part of my life I had accepted as lost forever.
Yeah, you miaunderstand me.
You can still enjoy the content, but the process isn’t reading that’s all.
I enjoy them too. Audio books are great. Several members of my family are blind and it is a form we can enjoy.
Interestingly the fact that several people can enjoy an audiobook at once supports my argument that it is not reading… A somewhat solo pursuit unless someone reads aloud.
So, respectfully, I think you’ve got the wrong end of this stick.
But I do want to say that it gives me genuine pleasure that you’ve found a way to enjoy those stories.
Would you say that someone reading printed out lyrics is listening to music?
Maybe if they were looking at a musical score? Is that listening to music?
I’d suggest it is a way of experience it. But it certainly isn’t listening to it.
I think reading is the same.
Audio books are not worse, not lesser, but they are different and that’s why I’d say they are not reading.