Comments on: Court Merrigan’s take on p-books vs. vs. audiobooks vs. Kindles vs. iPhones

By: Court

Court — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:08:57 +0000

Garson and Aaron, Indeed, as I said, audiobooks are wonderful while, say, shaving, or otherwise multitasking. When I was doing a horrible lot of commuting a while back, I listened to several dozen of the beasts. It was gratifying to finish each one, and mortifying to think how much time was spent commuting.

Steve, I agree that you get used to what you get used to. One of these days I’m going to get a hold of an iPhone or an iPod Touch and then my Kindle might just end up gathering dust. Hopefully, though, I’ll use the both of them in tandem.

Jill, I think the news of the Death of Reading thanks to the Gameboy generation is greatly exaggerated, as you amply prove.

Anne, Thanks for the link. Don’t do much audiobooking any more, and when I do, I’ve been a Librivox fan up to this point, but I’ll give your site a look.

By: Anne

Anne — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:19:49 +0000

I rarely have two hours to give to an audiobook much less 32 hours, but you can now find a lot of audio (MP3) short stories online and they’re perfect for the dentist’s chair, running errands, or waiting for an oil change. At Sniplits (http://www.sniplits.com)we offer stories in most genres and they are professionally narrated and produced for a high quality listening experience.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:02:02 +0000

I have both an iPhone and a Kindle and enjoy reading on both. I mainly use the iPhone Kindle app for short stories. I do not think I’d enjoy reading a long novel on the iPhone. Oh, and I am of the Game Boy generation, and I am definitely reading books!

By: Steve Jordan

Steve Jordan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:29:37 +0000

Speaking of open-minded, Aaron: As an almost-50-year-old, I have absolutely no problem reading e-books on my PDA, and have no need or interest in purchasing a larger reader like a Kindle. A PDA is no problem to grip, and its screen and fonts can be adjusted to suit. Not all “middle-agers” need big form factors, any more than all youngsters prefer small ones.

You get used to what you want to get used to.

By: Aaron Pressman

Aaron Pressman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:52:50 +0000

Yikes, let’s be a little more open-minded. I listened to several of the unabridged Harry Potter books as marvelously performed by Jim Dale. Is there some reason in the age of MP3 files and iPods that you can’t take an audio book to the gym or listen in your car or the subway on your way to work? I actually listened to a huge portion of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on a 16-hour plane trip to Japan.

As to iPhone versus Kindle, I don’t think it’s close for many of us in middle age. The Kindle is easier to grip and better facilitates losing yourself in a book. If you use larger-than-average fonts on the iPhone you end up spending a lot of time turning pages.

By: Garson O'Toole

Garson O'Toole — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:06:33 +0000

Court Merrigan said “But I can’t imagine how many hours this 1000-page plus books would consume listened to in its entirety.”

“Little Dorrit” is available as an unabridged audiobook download at Audible where the listening time is described as 35 hours and 9 minutes.

It is possible to imagine a preposterous person who can listen to “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke for 32 hours and 2 minutes. It is even conceivable that some audio-addled individual might listen to the Mars Trilogy of Kim Stanley Robinson for more than 82 hours. This morning while shaving I think I glimpsed the phantasmagorical creature in the mirror.