How I Read Audio Books
May. 9th, 2017 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tensegrityDear creator of audio book apps, (Axis 360, I'm looking at you), we need to talk about how people listen to audio books. Perhaps, in an ideal world, everyone gets to sit down to listen to an audio book straight through. Or maybe they get to listen to a chapter at a time. But when I'm listening to an audio book using my phone, I am in a supremely interruptible context. The app I'm using should expect that I'm going to have to stop listening at any time and that I might not come back to listen again for quite awhile. I might be using any number of other apps in the meantime, or I might have to reboot my phone.
If my audio book app cannot keep track of where I was when I was last listening, even though I'm still on the same device, I'm going to get quite irate. I am exactly the sort of freak who will happily listen to a book in five or ten minute chunks with hours between listening sessions. Because your app can't seem to keep track, I either have to remember to set a book mark every time I pause, or else I have to fast forward through to try to find where I was when I last stopped. If you only have five minutes to listen and you spend half of it searching for a place to start... you get irate.
And really, although I can be an odd duck in many ways, I don't believe that my listening habits are all that weird. Yes, this is an app for library provided audio books. Should I really be complaining? Well, yes. I love libraries and I am an enthusiastic user. I could afford to buy all the books I read (and listen to), but I believe our libraries are an important resource and should provide a good experience for everyone.
Ok, that's enough fussing for now.
If my audio book app cannot keep track of where I was when I was last listening, even though I'm still on the same device, I'm going to get quite irate. I am exactly the sort of freak who will happily listen to a book in five or ten minute chunks with hours between listening sessions. Because your app can't seem to keep track, I either have to remember to set a book mark every time I pause, or else I have to fast forward through to try to find where I was when I last stopped. If you only have five minutes to listen and you spend half of it searching for a place to start... you get irate.
And really, although I can be an odd duck in many ways, I don't believe that my listening habits are all that weird. Yes, this is an app for library provided audio books. Should I really be complaining? Well, yes. I love libraries and I am an enthusiastic user. I could afford to buy all the books I read (and listen to), but I believe our libraries are an important resource and should provide a good experience for everyone.
Ok, that's enough fussing for now.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-10 04:17 am (UTC)