Playing with Audio Book Players

Have you checked out audio book players lately? If you haven't, you're in for a pleasant surprise. The audio playback industry offers high-tech players with special features made especially for listening to audio book recordings.

The Problem with Music CD Players

For years, audio book readers have listened to their audio book recordings on audio book players that were made for listening to music CDs, one track at a time. If a music listener wants to hear a particular song but doesn't know which track the song is on, the listener can skip quickly from one track to another until finding the right song.

On the other hand, if an audio book reader wants to restart a recording where he or she left off, the reader must make a note of the track the audio book player was playing, and how far into the track the playback had progressed, before ejecting the CD. The reader must then reload the CD, skip to the appropriate track, and fast-forward to the point where the reading stopped. This process requires focus and attention, and since most audio book players are located in vehicles, the process can be dangerous as it detracts the driver's attention from the road.

A New Generation of Audio Book Players

Makers of audio book players have been making innovative changes to the playback experience, and audio book readers will be delighted to see improvements in the next generation of players. With audio book players devoted exclusively to recorded books, readers can browse a book's table of contents and navigate from chapter to chapter or page to page. Readers can even go directly to a specific page in the book or set multiple bookmarks to save their place. These advances in technology are a vast improvement over the old process of forwarding and fast-forwarding, and audio book enthusiasts are certain to respond to new product offerings by purchasing a dedicated audio book player.

Other features in these new audio book players are easy-to-operate playback buttons in high-contrast colors. These buttons stand out against the keypad, making operation easy for the many audio book readers who have some degree of visual impairment. The players use rechargeable batteries with a battery life of about ten hours. These audio book players allow playback through headphones or through their own high-quality speaker system. If the auto makers are smart, they will start to offer some of these same features on the stereo equipment installed in new cars as well; it is just a matter of time.

Have You Read a Good Audio Book Recording Lately?

Audio book recordings have revolutionized the way America reads. Today's reader is so busy with family, work, and other commitments to sit down and devote 100 per cent of his or her attention to reading a book. Because of the popularity of audio book recordings, sitting down to read a book, one page at a time, is an activity that may become obsolete in the near future.

Unlike traditional bound books with paper pages, a reader can listen to an audio book almost anywhere. Audio books make great companions while a reader is cooking, exercising or driving. In fact, the number one place people listen to audio book recordings is in their cars.

Varied Formats Appeal to a Diverse Readership

Audio book recordings come in a variety of formats to suit different kinds of readers. Some audio book recordings are available in cassette tape format, but this format has declined in sales since the early 2000s. Eventually, cassette tape recordings will become as hard to find as their predecessor, the reel-to-reel tape.

Recordings in CD format have enjoyed popularity recently, and they remain the most popular audio book format. Audio book recordings on CD can be purchased or borrowed through an audio book subscription service or a public library.

The newest format for audio book recordings is the mp3 file. The mp3 audio book recording can be downloaded to a hard drive and played with Windows Media Player, Quicktime, Real Player, or other file-playing software. An mp3 audio book recording file can also be downloaded to a portable device that interfaces with a car stereo, portable stereo, or headphone or ear bud speaker system.

Growth of the Audio Book Market

Surveys report that one in five American households listened to an audio book recording within the last year, and that 71 per cent of audio book readers listen to books on long car trips. Readers' favorite audio book genre is mystery, horror, or suspense. A typical audio book listener earns 25 per cent more than a reader of conventional books; studies show that audio book listeners tend to be more educated than traditional book readers, and they are more likely to hold managerial or professional positions with their employers.

Sales of downloadable audio book recordings have soared in the last four years, and this sector of the industry is expected to continue to grow as more and more consumers become comfortable downloading files and storing them on mp3 players.

Audio Book Rentals: The Economical Way to Read Books

Audio books are a recording of the contents of a book which has been read aloud. The distribution is usually on compact discs (CDs), cassette tapes, or digital forms like the MP3. Audio Book Rentals also have unabridged audio books which are exactly the word-to-word reading of the book. The abridged audio books have a text which has been edited out by the abridger.

Audio Book Rentals on the web are very popular among readers today. All you have to do is to create an online list of all the audio books which you would like to listen to. You can just receive your audio books in the mail and start reading them. There are no hassles of due dates and late fees and no shipping costs either.

How It Works

Based on your usage you choose the plan that suits your reading habits. There are Audio Book Rentals which charge monthly fees or annually. The reader is asked to make a list of 50 selections at any one time. You can update your selection lists any time and the process is simple, easy and fast.

Through First Class Mail the Audio Book Rentals make the delivery of the audio books. It takes only 5 to 7 days to receive the selection of audio books that you have ordered. Payments, as per your opted plan, have to be made online by credit card.

The postage and shipping is free of cost. When the customer finishes the book, it can just be returned to the Audio Book Rentals in an enclosed postage paid package. Sending and returning is simple and cost-free. And all audio tapes and CDs are delivered at your doorstep.

Advantages

The variety of books is immense. There are sales training books, memory training books, classics or bestsellers in the list. You can have a long queue of books at the Audio Book Rentals and you will be sent individual tapes and CDs based on your subscription. Every time one book is sent back, the next one on the queue is prepared to be shipped.

Disadvantages

The Audio Book Rentals are definitely an economical way to pursue reading books, especially if you can finish listening to the audio titles fast. Shipping sometimes takes time, and there is often a queue for the popular audio books. So you may have to wait long to read your favorite book. Audio Book Rentals are not available for international listeners and this is a big disadvantage.

Have You Considered Joining an Audio Book Library?

If you're already a fan of audio books, or if you're new to this idea, the Audio Book Library is definitely a place to visit. From the comfort of your computer chair, you can become a member of an Audio Book Library, make your selections, and even download the books of your choice.

What's the Appeal of Audio Books?

Audio books are convenient and often cheaper than their hardback counterparts. With the increase in technology, audio books are available in a variety of formats, from compact discs to computer downloads. They can be listened to on iPods or MP3 players, or played in the car while driving to and from work. The Audio Book Library has an extensive listing of available titles in many different categories. An audio book can offer the listener hours of pleasure from their favorite fiction writer, or it can help the listener increase business skills, or learn about interesting and relevant subjects.

How Does It Work?

The Audio Book Library has an easy sign-up process that can be done in minutes. You can download an application at their web site, choose the rental plan you prefer and then select up to 12 books. After your application is processed, the Audio Book Library will send you two books on your list and charge your credit card according to the rental plan you selected. The rental plans are flexible enough to cover everyone's needs, whether you want to pay by the book, a block of time (from one month to a year) or if you want the book available for several weeks during your vacation. The Audio Book Library clearly spells out the details of each of these options, while keeping the cost affordable.

When choosing a book, you may view a brief summary of the title as well as learn the amount of hours it runs. The Audio Book Library offers titles that are abridged or unabridged. It's important to note that an abridged version of a book is considerably shorter. As an example, The DaVinci Code is 16 hours in an unabridged version, but only six hours in its abridged state. Another consideration is the fact that many book publishers release titles that are abridged on a CD but unabridged on cassette tapes.

This, of course, makes it difficult to listen to a book in a car that is equipped with a CD player. However, this situation is changing, as publishers recognize the inconvenience as well as the popularity of other devices, like MP3 and WMA players. The Audio Book Library understands the needs of its customers and demonstrates that by offering a wide selection of books and flexible rental plans. Because of this, the world of books is a bit more wonderful.

Audio Book CD Players Go High Tech

Most audio books today are produced on compact disc, or CD. Several different types of audio book CD players are available that will play your audio book CDs: a portable CD player, a CD stereo system, or a computer or laptop with a CD drive. However, a dedicated audio book CD player provides the fullest enjoyment possible from your audio books.

Why Traditional CD Players Need Improvement

One problem with listening to audio books on traditional CD players is that it can be hard for you to keep track of your place in the book. If you remove your audio CD to listen to music or to access files on a data CD, your audio CD will restart from Track 1 when you replace it in your CD player. This is an inconvenience to say the least, but if you have a visual impairment that makes it difficult to see the display on a traditional CD player, this "inconvenience" can be time consuming and frustrating.

Another problem with using a traditional CD player or computer to listen to audio books is that many players designed for listening to music have just one playback speed. If the audio book narrator reads at a faster or slower pace than you desire, you are stuck with that pace, because you can't adjust the playback speed on a music CD player.

Audio Book CD Players - A Vast Improvement

An audio book CD player solves these problems and adds an array of other useful features that audio book listeners will love, whether they are fully sighted or visually impaired. With an audio book CD player, you gain basic functions that make navigating an audio book as easy as leafing through the pages of a traditional book.

An audio book CD player lets you browse your audio book's table of contents, skip from chapter to chapter or page to page, go to a specific page, and set one or more bookmarks so you can easily pick up where you left off. Audio book CD players also feature variable speed playbacks, so you can adjust the narrator's pace to your optimal listening speed.

Designed especially for listeners with other visual impairments, audio book CD players have a simple interface that uses buttons with a high color contrast to the keypad on the CD player, making the buttons easy to see and operate. Once you spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the layout of the buttons, you can move forward and backward in your audio book, set bookmarks, browse pages, and listen to your book with ease.

Most audio book CD players have a convenient handle that makes them easy to move from room to room. They use rechargeable batteries to save you money, and an audible announcement tells you when the batteries need to be recharged. Audio book CD players also play music CDs and mp3 files. You can listen to audio book CD player output through headphones, ear buds, or high-quality, built-in speakers.

Audio Book Clubs to Enhance Reading

If you are an avid reader, you will realize that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with reading lists. The best way is to become a member of an audio book club, so that you can have more time to read. Look at the current selection of CDs in your club and you can choose your favorite authors and "listen" to them while driving or even at home. You can even start your own audio book club!

Club Offers

Audio Book Clubs have several exciting offers and you can choose from thousands of audio books on CD. There are monthly plans and yearly plans and no commitment is necessary to start borrowing and buying from most of the Audio Book Clubs. Sometimes a 15-day trial is also available after which you can cancel, if it is not to your satisfaction. The audio books are shipped right to your door.

If you have a membership of one of the Audio Book Clubs you can download two audio books every month. The audio books available are varied, from bestsellers to classic titles as well as recordings including the latest releases, radio shows, speeches, newspapers, magazines and concerts.

Make Your Own Club

You can actually make your own audio book club, so that you can have a good mix of people who can come together and share each other's thoughts and feelings. Just by mailing friends and acquaintances can be an incentive to make them join your book club. The group can always get larger, if the response is good and you may be able to find a sizable number of members to support your Audio Book Club.

At meetings, which have to be organized, audio books can be exchanged and all present at the meetings can then become a member of an Audio Book Club. There could be discussions, exchange of ideas and maybe you could even have a read-along session. The advantage of such Audio Book Clubs is the personal contact with other members of the club. The exchange of ideas and communication are the attractions of forming such a club.

The secret of any book club longevity is to reconnect with friends and expand your reading repertoire. Keep these priorities in mind and you can have a long-lasting Audio Book Club experience.

A New Experience

Now you can join one of these book clubs where you will be sent a portion of a book in your email every morning. Once you have gone through the first two or three chapters of the books, you can continue to get the rest of the book. This service is offered free by some Audio Book Clubs and you can read at more than one club. The topics of the books range from non-fiction to science fiction and classics.

The Variety of Audio Book Players

In order to understand the variety of ways you can play back audio books you first need to understand how many different formats audio books can come in. They can come in cassette, CD, mp3, or just a regular audio download file.

All of that lends to a large variety of audio book players and some of them may be ideas for audio book players that you never even thought of before. Having a variety of ways to make audio books portable is what is beginning to make audio books so popular and what is also helping to increase the availability of the different kinds of books for audio format. It may not be long where every book released has some sort of audio book format attached to it and that would be when a whole world of information can open up to a whole new group of people.

Mp3 files are condensed audio files that are horrible for music but great if you are trying to make a huge audio book file portable. Once you get the audio book down to mp3 format you can use audio book players such as a simple 10GB mp3 player or audio book players like the iPod or other very popular portable computer file music players. It makes the audio book a very versatile thing and it allows you to take it with you anywhere you want to go in the smallest format possible. An mp3 audio book also allows you to transfer your book easily between audio book players so that you will always have it with you.

On Your Hip

The other day I was walking through a store and saw a portable cassette player and a portable CD player still being sold. I was glad that mp3 players had not completely taken over yet and the availability of these players can be used as audio book players by those that are not technically inclined enough to use an mp3 player. Some people just do not like to deal with new technology and you completely bypass the new technology by using these items that have been around now for decades. There is no shame in shunning technology and for now these players make great portable audio book players for any of your audio books on cassette or CD.

Of course the more obvious audio book players would be your stereo with the CD player or your computer and that is where your audio books can really come to live. An audio book played through a full stereo can sound like the story teller is sitting right next to you and if it is done right then isn't that how you want your audio books to sound anyways?