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The Rise of Audiobooks
Audiobooks have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years, from a small niche market to a huge segment of the publishing industry, changing the way we look at books. An estimated 20-25% of Americans read an E-book of some kind last year, and that number is growing every year. While it may appear that audiobooks are a relatively recent phenomenon, they have actually been around since the 1930’s! Tracing the history of audiobooks gives some clues to their recent rise to ubiquity, and what the future may hold for what used to be called “books on tape”.
The History of Audiobooks
The origins of the audiobook actually stem from the search for an improvement on the Braille system. In the 1930’s, the American Foundation for the Blind started a project to develop “talking books” for blind readers. Long play records (or LPSs, as we know them now) existed at the time, but were not used for music due to technological limitations on their quality. The quality of the records, while not high enough for music, worked for audio recordings of books, and the audiobook was born.
The program launched in 1934, with 27 titles available by the end of the first year. As each record held 25 minutes of audio per side, most books took around 10 records to complete – a far cry from today, where entire volumes can be downloaded in seconds!
In 1969, the National Library Service made use of new audio cassette technology to record smaller audiobooks, making them far more portable and convenient to use. This led to many more books being recorded for them, and the trend continued with the introduction of compact discs in the early 80’s. By the 90’s a large amount of books had been recorded to audio, including most bestsellers and many classics. Once the Internet came along, audiobooks followed the trend of other media (especially music) toward being completely online. These days, most audiobooks are available to be downloaded as audio files to mobile devices, phones, and MP3 players capable of holding entire libraries. The audiobook has come a long way since its humble origins.
Audiobooks Today
There are a multitude of subscription services available now for audiobooks, and even audio book clubs. LibriVox (librivox.org) is an interesting online library consisting entirely of public domain books. All books are free, and read by volunteers. You can even select a book from the public domain that has not yet been recorded and record it yourself! For new works, finding an audiobook version is easy as pie – most large publishers now release all their major books with audio versions as well. The amount of ways to access audiobooks has grown proportionally to their popularity. Of course, copyright laws aside, one of the most popular methods to acquire E-books is still by downloading them, as is done with music and movies.
The Pros and Cons of Audiobook
Audiobooks offer some definite advantages over traditional books, perhaps the biggest being their ability to be used while doing other activities – it is very difficult to read a book while running or exercising. Sticking true to their original purpose, audiobooks offer clear advantages to sight impaired and other handicapped people. Finally, some people report that audiobooks allow them access to books – particularly long or difficult novels – that they may not have otherwise picked up. But while there are many upsides to audiobooks, there are some downsides as well.
It is much more difficult to read back over a passage with an audiobook, despite the rewind button. Along the same lines, it is nearly impossible to refer back to a section of an E-book. When listening, you’re stuck with the reader’s pacing and tone, which can be frustrating if it is too slow. Finally, (some will argue) there is a certain magic about holding a book, especially an old, weathered one, that is lost with audiobooks. For those who fear audiobooks signal the end of hardback and paperback books, however, there is no reason for alarm – the rates of readership among Americans for both audiobooks and traditional books rose slightly last year.
Audiobooks are here to stay, and it’s anyone’s guess what directions new technology will take them in. From their inauspicious beginnings as a tool for the blind, they have become a ubiquitous part of the reading experience for many today.