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.