That’s my point. I don’t think I would describe someone reading out loud to me as me reading something. Them reading, me listening. And it’s not the same experience, neither qualitatively nor cognitively.
As I also said above, I don’t disagree with this statement. But, again, nobody who has heard somebody describe a painting says that they have seen the painting.
Not sure I agree with this statement 100%. When I read the author’s description of something, like our hero walking on a path through a forest, I form a mental image of the character, the path, the forest, etc. The same thing happens when somebody reads to me the description of our hero walking on a path through a forest.
Whether I read a book or listen to a book, when I’m done, I know what the book was about and who the characters were and what happened to them.
I’m curious whether you were read to as a child. I was. My earliest experience with books was having someone (like one of my parents) read them to me. And I wasn’t thinking, “Hey, you’re not being true to the value and concept of words on a page reading. It doesn’t count unless I’m reading the book for myself, with my own eyes.”
It’s possible that, for you, because of the way your brain works, the experience of reading a book is very different from that of having one read to you. It’s possible that you don’t get nearly as much out of listening as you do out of reading. But other people’s experiences are different.
It’s well-established that reading “works” differently for different people, even if we’re just talking about words on a page. Some people form mental images of what they read; others don’t. Some people hear the sounds of the words in their heads; others don’t. For some people, reading is essentially effortless: they point their eyes at the page and the meaning flows into their mind. For other people, the act of decoding marks on a page takes effort.
I can assure you that, for me, the experience of reading a book and the experience of listening to an audiobook are enough similar that in both cases, at least under ideal conditions, I can fully understand and appreciate the book to roughly the same degree. I don’t get a sense that either is inferior or “not really reading.” But I don’t assume that everyone else has the same experience.
That’s an issue of terminology. We don’t have a good word for having experienced or consumed a book regardless of format.
If you read a book to me, and I listen and take it in, you’re right: you’re reading, I’m listening. If someone else later asks me “Have you read [that book]?” I wouldn’t feel right answering with an unqualified “yes,” but I’d feel even less right answering with an unqualified “no.”
Okay. I was just asking because I think the comparative value of audio books compared to written books depends on what you think their inherent value is. In my opinion, the value of a fiction book is a good, entertaining story. For nonfiction, it’s to learn about an interesting topic. And I’m both cases, I think I get more value out of the written book — I enjoy the story better in writing, and I learn better in writing.
The value of the audio book is to entertain me during a task that does not involve a lot of concentration but involves my being visually engaged. But if I were not otherwise visually engaged, I’d definitely prefer to “visually” read the book.
Ok, I’m willing to concede that maybe there isn’t such a big difference between audiobooks and printed/electronic books. And I will give audiobooks a try, probably starting with nonfiction.
But on a related question, do you think audiobooks will eventually replace all visual medium books? In other words, will VMB become the new VHS? 
Absolutely not. I can think of several reasons why, but they’re so obvious I don’t think I have to list them.
Nope.
And neither do I think e-readers are going to replace all paper books.
We’re expanding options. That’s generally better than shrinking them.
[goes to put more wood in the wood stove. There’s also an oil-burning furnace in the house.]
carnivorousplant, by slow speed, do you literally mean how slow the narrator reads? Or are you referring more generally to how long it takes to complete a book?
If you’re referring to the prior, then yeah, speeding up the audio should help.
In my case, there are two issues that make audio books slower reading for me:
(1) If done properly, reading is a relaxing activity for me. Listening to sped up audio makes me feel stressed out and on edge. I think my mind can just process information fairly quickly and smoothly when it’s reading something, but it needs more time to properly process spoken words. Which I guess gets back to the point the OP is trying to make: does my mind work this way because it’s so accustomed to reading? If I had spent less time reading and more time listening, would I be able to listen faster than I could read? Or is this a general truth about the majority of people?
(2) A friend of mine once mentioned that he did not like reading books because he was such a slow reader and it took him so long to finish a book. After probing further, I suspect his issue had to do with how frequently he read. Even if you read fairly slowly, if you set aside an hour each day to read, you’ll still retain the general storyline and characters from day to day. It’s when you put down a book and then try to pick it up days later that you struggle to follow the storyline. And that’s my problem with audio books. I primarily listen when I’m driving to and from work, but I only drive in to the office twice a week, and sometimes I’d rather listen to music (or someone calls me and wants to talk on the phone). A story usually isn’t as engaging if you only come back to it for brief segments of time a couple days out of the week.
How slowly listening can be comprehended compared to reading.
Audio books in the car has problems. I might get to work or the doughnut shop before the battle ends.
It is not aesthetically pleasing to listen while I drive from one place to another. I read when I have time to enjoy and complete it, not as something to take up time between trips.
Which is why I listen to audiobooks on my daily hour-long walk, or a drive that will take at least 30 minutes.
But, yes, it’s frustrating when the good guys are in dire straits and you arrive at your destination.
Yup, this is why I made sure I had a selection of audio books and files for the 630 mile drive (each way) starting on 17MAR2024.
But of course, people do that with text books as well. I took the bus to work for a long while a few years ago, and read books on my kindle while on the bus. So it was a bit of a wash.
Often, someone in the coffeeshop (hey, that’s my most literate cohort) will bring up a point from a book they’ve read. If I agree, or take exception, I’ve learned not to say “Oh, by the way, I listened to the book, I didn’t read the hardcover version.”
(I did say that once, and all talk just stopped. And everyone looked at me as if to say “So why even bother bringing that up?” But then discussion picked up where it left off, with no difference between those who read the book, listened to it, or read it on a Kindle… but with me still feeling like an over-sharer.)
This is key. People vary dramatically in how they best process information. I apologize for not having a cite, but I did pay attention to the academic literature on learning styles when my son was young. One thing I learned, that made perfect sense to me as soon as I read it (yes, on the printed page, or possibly the computer screen), was that not everyone digests and retains information identically.
Some people are much better at absorbing information they see written down. Other do far better with audio input. As for me, I am very far on the tail end toward written information. I’m one of those people who can tell you, weeks later, about a scene in a book of fiction: “The conversation between Susie and George was about three-quarters of the way down on the left-hand side of the page.” That’s because, for me, information is absorbed far better through vision than through hearing. I really do see the words on the page, in a detailed manner.
But just because it works that way for me doesn’t mean it works the same way for others. I have known people who insist, and I believe them, that they retain information much more successfully if they hear it.
In fact, one potential benefit of audio books (full disclosure: I never listen to full length books, but I have become a fan of podcasts and the like) is training my brain to do better at absorbing input that I hear rather than see.
I’ve read fiction books. I’ve listened to fiction audio books. I’ve read nonfiction books. I’ve listened to nonfiction audio books. It doesn’t make a difference to me.
In fact, my audio book memories are often more vivid. What I remember from a given book is directly connected to the stretch of road I was driving.
The one big advantage of print for nonfiction is visual aides. I listened to Dava Sobel’s Longitude when I had an hour plus commute. I had to look up pictures of stuff when I got home.
Personally, I like to read and listen with Amazon’s Whispersync. I’m a slow reader and get distracted easily, so this helps me get through books faster. I can read on my kindle, while eating breakfast, then pickup the audio, in the exact place I left off, and listen on my way to work. Then, do it all again on my lunch hour and ride home.
Hey, me too!