Apple has another wave to go - Audio Books
I was lucky enough to have a hip enough wife that she gave me a Nano(tm) for our anniversary this past year. I love many kinds of music and was glad to have it - morning radio has gone the way of jerry springer, and I travel with my job a lot - listening to music during these extended commutes is a great way to pass the time. Makes me hate the "wait for the plane now that I have cleared security" less.
And it changed my life. But shockingly - not in a listening to music way. I use my Nano to listen to audio books far more than I use it to listen to music. Drive time, extended commutes (travelling for work), last hour of the evening (I don't watch TV - about 2 hours a week tops), yard work. I find I can't listen to audio books when doing cognitive tasks (even blogging) but I am addicted.
I know, you are thinking, aren't those boring edited version made for tards and the blind? Nope - life has changed, as as we no longer go to the town square to listen to an orator, reading a dead-tree version of a book is passing quickly - and the audio books I download are un-abriged.
This is an industry changing phenom - I am averaging two books, at least 10 hours a week of "reading / listening" to them. I have spent more money on audio books than on electronics and music combined in the past 4 months. I have rediscovered my No-time-for-it love of history, and am listening to stuff I hated studying during prep school.
I also listen to the java posse podcast, www.javaposse.com (a great summary of java news and views)
and diggnation a summary / comedy-commentary on the social news website, digg , to keep up with technology as my passions and my job require it. I get my books from audible, since they have the best price points I know of, and I just can't bit torrent books - there are very few rich authors (rich in the "Does Harrison Ford really need more money" kind of rich) out there, especially the ones that write history books....
Oh, and my five year old daughter likes to "listen in" on one of the ear buds as I tuck her in, she is now full of questions about the civil war - which while tough to answer, are surely easier than other questions she will ask later in life. Its a funny thing trying to explain our society, past or present, to a five year old. Try it sometime.
Next week - the crazy list of books I have listened to.
And it changed my life. But shockingly - not in a listening to music way. I use my Nano to listen to audio books far more than I use it to listen to music. Drive time, extended commutes (travelling for work), last hour of the evening (I don't watch TV - about 2 hours a week tops), yard work. I find I can't listen to audio books when doing cognitive tasks (even blogging) but I am addicted.
I know, you are thinking, aren't those boring edited version made for tards and the blind? Nope - life has changed, as as we no longer go to the town square to listen to an orator, reading a dead-tree version of a book is passing quickly - and the audio books I download are un-abriged.
This is an industry changing phenom - I am averaging two books, at least 10 hours a week of "reading / listening" to them. I have spent more money on audio books than on electronics and music combined in the past 4 months. I have rediscovered my No-time-for-it love of history, and am listening to stuff I hated studying during prep school.
I also listen to the java posse podcast, www.javaposse.com (a great summary of java news and views)
and diggnation a summary / comedy-commentary on the social news website, digg , to keep up with technology as my passions and my job require it. I get my books from audible, since they have the best price points I know of, and I just can't bit torrent books - there are very few rich authors (rich in the "Does Harrison Ford really need more money" kind of rich) out there, especially the ones that write history books....
Oh, and my five year old daughter likes to "listen in" on one of the ear buds as I tuck her in, she is now full of questions about the civil war - which while tough to answer, are surely easier than other questions she will ask later in life. Its a funny thing trying to explain our society, past or present, to a five year old. Try it sometime.
Next week - the crazy list of books I have listened to.
I've been observing audiobooks pop in and out of my tech news radar for years, but never made much of it. So it was interesting to see how it can impact the life of someone who has access to so many other competing 'feeds' like I have as well. I think I just might give it a spin too.
Also, quite liked reading your take on Scott McNealy.
Particularly liked how quickly I got a lay of the land on several topics like multicores and grids on demand, topics which have popped up before but never got a macro viewpoint.
I think what I like most is reading above my payscale ^_^
FYI, I landed on your site from a forum link in a /. article on virtualization. I'm just a PC enthusiast, but I have broad tastes in things tech, and I just never knew where file virtualization in the big picture. Something about breaking it down in kilowatt terms really helped connect the dots for me.
Well this has been yet another good bounce from Slashdot. Might drop by from time to time.
Cheers.