Travel and Leisure

Are we losing hours in a day or are we just getting busier and having less time to do all things that we want? It has come to the point where time has become our most precious and coveted commodity, even surpassing money in many instances. How can we "get back" some of those lost hours? One way is listening to audio books and it has become a red hot new trend that is sweeping the nation. Studies show that less Americans today are buying printed books and converting to audio books. In fact right now, one-third more people are listening to audio books and it's estimated that downloadable audio books will outsell printed books by huge quantities within just a few more years.

Why are more people switching over to downloadable audio books? People are busier nowadays than ever before and are forced to give up much of their leisurely time. They have hectic schedules and busy lifestyles and must multi-task to make their day more productive. Listening to audio books puts a lot of "dead time" to good use. You can listen to audio books while doing anything at all. Hear your favorite novels while exercising, walking your dog, cooking or doing chores around the house. Listen to them while shopping, running errands, commuting or traveling. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Audio books serve a large variety of uses. They can be used for studying, learning a new skill, developing your inner self, meditating, relaxing and reducing stress. Audio books are perfect for people learning a foreign language because you can clearly hear the correct pronunciation and it's almost like having your very own teacher there right beside you. Audio books are most ideal for the visually impaired and people who suffer from dyslexia.

Downloadable audio books offer many advantages. Thousands of titles are available all the time from world leading publishers. More best sellers and popular titles are available every month from top selling authors and the figures are growing exponentially. Audio books are very convenient, portable and affordable. Many sell for as little as a few dollars and some are even free. In many ways they are more economical than printed books in that it saves a countless numbers of trees every year. The quality of audio books nowadays is excellent and far superior to the ones that were made years ago. Today's audio books contain any number of narrators and characters and are filled with realistic sound effects and background music. This makes them much more dramatic, exciting and entertaining. Audio books are easy to download quickly and can be converted to any format that you choose. They are yours to keep and they'll practically last forever.

Which format is the best to use for listening to audio books? It really depends on each person's personal preferences. The oldest format is the cassette tape which offers a number of advantages. They are durable and convert easily to a CD and they won't bend or snap like a CD. They are simple to use and resume play once the tape has been stopped. Cassette tapes are easier to play for children, many elderly and "technically challenged" individuals. Many elderly people have difficulty reading small print in books and a good number of individuals are either blind or dyslexic, so they can all find audio books on tape the answer to their prayers. However, cassette tapes do pose a few drawbacks. The recording quality is somewhat more inferior compared with the other available formats. Tapes can wear out quicker and sometimes the ribbon gets twisted, broken or "eaten" inside the player. Cassette tapes are becoming harder to find and will eventually become obsolete.

More popular audio book formats are CD, MP3 and iPod. They all offer much better digital sound and the overall quality is much higher than conventional cassette tapes. CD's can be played on any PC, DVD player, car audio system and Play Station video game consoles. MP3's and iPods are the most compact formats of all and are gaining huge popularity. All formats have their good points and drawbacks. Everyone should choose the format which best works for them. Whatever your decision, audio books are the best thing since sliced bread.