PortableVoice.com Guide to AudioBooks
In many ways, portable spoken audio isn't a new idea at all. The small industry of Audio Books has been doing it for years. With narrators reading the text of books, the best selling books for the last 20 years have been accessible to the blind as well as those wanting to listen instead of read.
However, the drawbacks of traditional audio books have held back the popularity of these. It can take dozens of cassette tapes to hold a large book. Because of this, audio books have been expensive, and only big sellers are even made into audio books. But finally, the technology we talk about throughout this site has come to the rescue.
Audio Books can now be delivered in minutes to buyers without the limitations of audio tapes, using MP3 and other audio file formats. This means production costs are cheaper, so the selection of books has greatly grown, and purchase price to the consumer is coming down. Finally, instead of hauling around a box of cassettes, you can now get many hours of spoken audio on portable MP3 Players.
However, the drawbacks of traditional audio books have held back the popularity of these. It can take dozens of cassette tapes to hold a large book. Because of this, audio books have been expensive, and only big sellers are even made into audio books. But finally, the technology we talk about throughout this site has come to the rescue.
Audio Books can now be delivered in minutes to buyers without the limitations of audio tapes, using MP3 and other audio file formats. This means production costs are cheaper, so the selection of books has greatly grown, and purchase price to the consumer is coming down. Finally, instead of hauling around a box of cassettes, you can now get many hours of spoken audio on portable MP3 Players.
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Great Sources for AudioBooks
Audible.com
library of spoken audio. If you haven't, you at least browse Audible. The selection is amazing, but there are drawbacks. You can listen to short samples of everything, streamed with RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. There is a little bit of free content, but you have to register with them to get the free content. Also, while you can listen to anything you buy on your computer, only a handful of portable players are supported.
We've included a few RealPlayer samples below:
We've included a few RealPlayer samples below:
MP3AudioBooks.com
MP3AudioBooks.com also sells audio books in downloadable format. Their selection is pretty limited, concentrating mostly on self-help, motivational, and
business topics. Free MP3 sample of each book is available.
Salon.com/MP3 Lit
Formerly MP3Lit.com, Salon.com Audio is probably the leader in audiobooks in MP3 format. Titles range from classics to new releases, and a ton of unknown authors, you can download a chapter or two to listen to. It appears that they give you the samples, trying to get you to buy the text book. We've included some samples below:
PortableVoice Great Lit
Don't forget to check out PortableVoice.com's own Great Literature pages for more books.
Online audio bookseller that has free samples of several old books. Registration is required.
MediaBay.com
MediaBay sells downloadable audiobooks, old radio shows, and news programs. Streamed free samples require registration.
Also check out their yet complete DownloadBay site for a few free books.
Do you know of Great Audiobook sites, especially those offering free sample downloads in MP3? Let us know.
