What kind of audio book to buy?

The modern technology gives us the opportunity to “open” the existing concept of a book. Nowadays, in addition to reading a book in the old fashioned way, one can listen to audio book in one of at least 3 methods:  An audio book on a cassette, an audio book on a CD or an audio book in the format of a MP3 or other audio file. In this article we will examine the different parameters that one should consider when buying a new “book”:

1. Size and Weight – The smaller and lighter, the better. Carrying a big and heavy book could by a hassle. In this parameter the most modern method is certainly the best one – one can have several books on one MP3 player like an Ipod. The next audio book methods according to this parameter in a descending order are audio books on a cd and audio books on cassettes (one book can be converted into more than 20 cassettes).  

 2. Comfort – In this parameter the opinions are varied. Most claim that the new MP3 audio books are the most convenient ones. The disadvantage is that one can continue listening to the audio book only from the exact point he stopped at the last time. That’s why some still insist that there is no real substitute to the convenience of the old fashioned books.

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3. Variety – All the bestsellers could be found on the different methods of the audio books. However, most of the books are published only on the old fashioned way – the printed one. Yet, In the past couple of years, the amount of new audio books is growing rapidly.

4.  Price – The price varies according to the different titles. In general, audio books on MP3 files are the cheapest. Audio books on CD and on cassettes are more expensive. None of them clearly costs more. Comparing to the old fashioned book, we find that it usually costs the same as the audio book on a MP3 file.

Each one should take into account the different parameters and make his decision. We assume that most of the people will find that the best audio book method for their need is the MP3 audio book.

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