(Untitled)

[rassah]

Can "reading" books by downloading and listening to them in audio book format be considered as "reading books" in the same sense as someone else saying "they read a lot of books" who reads them on paper? Why or why not? (i.e. audio books = or <> paperbacks, and more specifically, "someone who reads books" = or <> to "someone who listens to audio

Comments

[giza]

I think it depends on how well you learn by listening versus reading. Some people are better auditory/oral learners, while some people are better visual learners. It all depends on your learning style.

[rassah]

In this case this has nothing to do with style (can learn either way just as well), and is more to do with laziness/lack of time. Have no time to sit down with a book, with all the other things to read online (blogs, news, reviews, sciency stuff, financial reports, etc), and other things to do (watch TV, practice flying in sims, learn about flying stuff, learn Japanese, and do other fun things). Whereas one can still listen to audio books during the commute to work, drive to far-away friends/family, or even while the work you are currently doing is so repetitive that it requires no thought on your part. I've heard some say that listening to audio books isn't actually reading the book, so am curious.

[sandy_hedges]

I feel probably the important part is the listener's ability to be able to absorb information and recall it later on if they're just hearing it rather then reading it. I feel reading information makes it easier to absorb and contemplate.

[sandy_hedges]

I was thinking this over some more and I feel that listening to news or a book I'm not trying to learn from would be just fine. No, I wouldn't have put in the actual effort of reading but I would get the story. Only thing I find lacking is when I'm listening to someone read me a story I don't imagine the story in my head as much so some of the experience of reading might be missing.