How would you like to lose weight effortlessly, be entertained, and educated at the same time? (And sleep more soundly and have a better appetite)? Sound too good to be true?
I recently discovered audio books. Go to www.audible.com, browse the catalog, download an MP3 file to your portable MP3 player, and you’re set. You can listen to an entertaining or informative book while walking to or from work.
I have always been aware that exercise is important, and I have never done enough. I’m reasonably slim (6’, 165 lbs), but my latest cholesterol readings are trending upwards. Lipitor is not kind to your liver, so I thought it’s time I get serious. Being self-employed and always drowning in work, it was difficult to bring myself to ‘waste’ an hour a day just walking. However, if I can listen to a great book at the same time, then the expenditure of time is efficient enough to justify.
I have developed the following routine. When I head home from work in the evening, I park my truck 3 kilometers from home, and walk the rest of the way. The next morning, I retrace my steps, get in the truck and park at work. This way I can get home for lunch. (One of the advantages of living in a small town). Friday evening, my wife drives me back to the truck so I can take it home for the week-end.
So far, I have listened to “High Noon: The Inside Story of Scott McNealy and the Rise of Sun Microsystems”, “How the Irish Saved Civilization”, “Team Rodent” (an exposé of Disney), “The Basque History of the World”, Robin Williams interviewing contemporary and classic comedians (returning from his military service, Jonathan Winters asked his mother why she had discarded all his childhood toys. Her answer: “We didn’t know if you were coming back!”), “The Crisis of Islam”, “The Mystery of the Aleph” (biography of mathematician Georg Cantor), “The Orchid Thief”, Herodotus’ “The Persian Wars”, “UFOs, JFK and Elvis” by Richard Belzer.
I have listened to more books of fiction or history in a couple of months than I have read in several years. Usually, if I sit down to read a book, I feel compelled to read something technical in my field (programming). With the exception of biographies of comedians, I never feel I have the time to waste on frivolous material, not related to work.
A few words about the technology of audible books.
First, we’re not talking about tapes or CDs here. Anything with a motor sucks too much power from the batteries, which don’t last long. An MP3 player with 64MB of memory holds 8 hours of good quality narration.
Second, the MP3 player you select must have the ability to restart where you last stopped when you turned the unit off.
These requirements result in different characteristics from an MP3 used to play music. Music consumes humongous bandwidth. An Apple iPod has 500MB of disc (again, the motor), which can store many hours of high-fidelity music. This is overkill for book narration.
Further, while it’s no big deal for the listener to skip ahead to the desired track of music, it is unpleasant to have to lean on the fast-forward button for 5 minutes to reposition the book. Believe me, I’ve done it after accidentally pressing the wrong button while fumbling with the volume. That is, until I discovered what the ‘Hold’ button did (locks out the controls).
Audible gives away a compact little player called the Otis, specifically designed for books. Worth $119, they probably make it up in the subscription you commit to. It’s not hard to go crazy and select many books while you scroll through their catalog.
The books come in different levels of quality. The lower-quality recording consume less memory. I find levels 1 or 2 to be grainy and disappointing. Level 4 takes too much memory. Like Goldilocks, level 3 is just right.
The Audible web site is well designed. The operation of the software is relatively simple and reliable. First, you select a book, and after entering your credit card number, you download the book to your computer. Then you connect the MP3 player to the computer, usually by USB cable, and transfer the book (or portion thereof) to the MP3 player. Audible supports a wide variety of players in addition to the Otis.
I particularly like how smart the interface is. Say you have copied an eight-hour book to your Otis, and you have read six hours already, with another two hours left. You are going on a trip, and want to load up the Otis with new material so you won’t run out during your trip. Simply drag the next book over to the Otis window, and the software will [1] delete the six hours you have already listened to, [2] leave the remaining two hours, and [3] transfer the first six hours of your next selection. Very convenient.
An LCD screen show you how many minutes into the book you have reached, and how much juice is left in your batteries (two AAA).
Another nice feature is your “Wish List”. As you browse through the catalog and see many goodies you like (gift suggestions, hint! hint!), you can add them to your Wish List without having to buy them on the spot.
I also bought TextAloud (www.nextup.com), which converts plain ASCII text files to MP3. You can listen to memos, email, technical papers on your MP3 player. Unlike the books however, which are in a proprietary format, you lose your place when turning off the Otis, and have to fast-forward to resume. Not as much of a problem, I suppose, for short texts.
By the way, hearing the computer recite text is an endless fascination. I always get a kick from making my PC faithfully drone “Bill Gates is an idiot”, or intone scurrilous material.