Listening to Audiobooks
Remember when cars came with cassette tape players (those of you over 40)? Technology moved on and then cars came with CD players. New cars today come with neither of those. Now the hot thing is USB flash drives. Why? New technology. Today’s flash drives can hold 100 CDs.
What does this have to do with audiobooks? I always thought of audiobooks being downloaded to my iPhone. That is still true. I have 120 books on my phone. However, today you can also download audiobooks to a flash drive (hundreds of them, actually) and play them though your car’s sound system. Cool, heh?
The audiobook industry is growing about 20% a year. One in five Americans now listen to audiobooks. That also means that 80% do not. But, just as movies stream into our living rooms by the dozens every day, and more and more cars are electric, and paper maps are now obsolete, you can bet that in a few years audiobooks will be as popular as traditional books.
I am amazed, though, how many people I meet who do not listen to audiobooks. In addition, I am astounded by how many people who don’t know what a USB flash drive is or how to use it. I was in a friend’s new Nissan Maxima recently and counted six (6!) USB ports. My friend had never used even one. He was amazed to see Sharing Our Stories come right up on his navigation screen and play flawlessly through his sound system.
So, in sum… if you don’t listen to audiobooks, get on board. Soon they will be ubiquitous. Also, if you are reading this blog on your computer or phone, and you don’t know how to use a flash drive, run, don’t walk to your IT techie and figure it out. I would love it if my voice came blasting through your car’s stereo.
To get Sharing Our Stories as a download to your phone, or on a flash drive, go to:
rickgilbert.com/ricksbook.
A great quote from David Brooks:
People only change after they’ve felt understood. The really good confidants – the people we go to for wisdom – are more like story editors than sages.
A Great Poem from Compassion and Choices Magazine
Bodies give out like well-worn shoes
Minds go to mush like left over stews
Loved ones are tasked with the care
Of empty shells with no one there
To linger too long would be a mistake
One I hope not to make
I’m a huge audio book fan! I can read books in my car, while cleaning up the kitchen, while going to sleep (there’s a sleep timer so it stops when you fall asleep!). I have to admit that I do miss books, which I still occasionally read. But the gift of using all that extra time to read that would otherwise be wasted is HUGE, since there are so many books I want to read, and so little time! PLUS with Audible books, you get the pleasure of a professional actor reading to you, with all the proper accents. It adds to the pleasure! And let me just say, Rick’s SHARING OUR STORIES book is perfect for listening, because it’s real people telling their stories in their own voices! It does not get any better!
And I agree: flash drives are AMAZING. Poor CDs just didn’t last that long because flash drives are so much more versatile in every way. — If you’ve never tried listening to a book, start with SHARING OUR STORIES in your car. You’ll be hooked!
I fully agree with all the thoughts and opinions shared by Rick and Susan Page.