This document discusses potential downsides to listening to audiobooks compared to reading printed books. It notes that audiobooks leave more to the imagination, make it difficult to focus on the story, and are harder to revisit or take notes on than printed books. Additionally, research suggests memory and comprehension may be better when reading versus listening. However, audiobooks allow consuming more content and have increased in popularity, with debates around their impact on literacy levels.

1. What you lose by listening
Audio Books
Image
credit:
Annelies GeneynBy:
Shelby
Ibbotson

2. Imagination
Miss out on hearing your own version of the
narrative voice
Image
Credit:
William
Stitt

3. Imagination
The intonation and the
modulation of the speaker is
critical for determining the
visual setting of the story.
Leaves less to the
imagination
Image
Credit:
Ben
White

4. Good Book Bad Narrator
The voice of the person narrating
can ruin the entire experince
Image
Credit:
Kane
Reinholdsten

5. One voice for every character/One person
trying to change their voice to fit every
character = Annoying
Image
credit:
Romain Vignes

6. Although you learn
pronunciation
sometimes books are
narrated in different
accents which makes
them harder
recognize words and
learn proununciation
Image
credit:
Chris
Lawton

7. Listening while doing other things
=
not focused, and miss plot points
Focus
Image
Credit:
Lou
Levit

8. "If we come to think reading is this secondary activity
we do while doing other stuff, then we lose that
deepest and most important kind of reading,”
- Nicholas Carr1
Image
Credit:
Gaelle Marcel

9. 0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Reading
Outloud
Reading
Silently Listening
to
Audiobook
Proportion of Mind Wandering
Series
1 Series
2
Image
credit:
Christian
Bruno
Data
Credit:
Frontiers
20132

10. “for competent readers, there is
virtually no difference between
listening to a story and reading it.”1
how many readers are
considered “competent”?
Image
Credit:
Ben
White

11. According to a study conducted in late April by the U.S. Department of
Education and the National Institute of Literacy, “32 million adults
in the U.S. can’t read. That’s 14 percent of the population. 21
percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5th grade level, and 19
percent of high school graduates can’t read.”
Image
Credit:
Ben
White

12. Memory
Word recognition and
general memory
are worse with audio
than with visual
Image
Credit:
Moritz
Schmidt

13. “the brain stores audio information in one way — think of it
as a more temporary way — and it stores visual information
in an entirely different way. A better way. A way that will
make the memory easier to recall.”4 – Jon Hotchkiss,
The Huffingston Post
Image
Credit:
Miguel
Salgado

14. “I fly through a lot
more books than I
used to”
- Cory Wilbur1
Image
Credit:
Clem
Onojeghuo

15. No slowing down
or soeeding up an
audio book to
better understand
and process
(Without distorting the voice)
Speed
Image
Credit:
Lee
Campbell

16. Speeding up Audiobooks creates a
high-pitched chipmunk problem5
Image
credit:
Luca
Campioni

17. Difficult to
revisit
certain
parts of the
book
Difficult to
navigate
book in
general
Image
Credit:
Aaron
Burden

18. Taking Notes
Can not highlight
important passages
Image
credit:
Aaron
Burden

19. An
increased
use
of
audio
books
in
place
of
books
will
decrease
the
amount
of
people
who
learn
to
read
Image
Credit:
Alice
Moore

20. Works
Cited
Alter,
Alexandra.
"The
New
Explosion
in
Audio
Books;
how
they
Re-­‐Emerged
as
a
Rare
Bright
Spot
in
the
Publishing
Business."
Wall
Street
Journal
(Online)Aug
01
2013.
ProQuest.
Web.
2
Mar.
2017
.
L,
Varao Sousa
Trish,
Jonathan
S
A
Carriere,
and
Dan
Smilek.
"The
Way
We
Encounter
Reading
Material
Influences
How
Frequently
We
Mind
Wander."
Frontiers.
Frontiers,
10
Nov.
2013.
Web.
02
Mar.
2017.
Crum,
Maddie.
"The
U.S.
Illiteracy
Rate
Hasn't
Changed
In
10
Years."
The
Huffington
Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com,
06
Sept.
2013.
Web.
03
Mar.
2017
Hotchkiss,
Jon.
"Are
You
More
Likely
to
Remember
Stuff
You
See
or
Stuff
You
Hear?"
The
Huffington
Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com,
06
Mar.
2014.
Web.
03
Mar.
2017.
Teitell,
Beth.
"How
Speed
Listening
Became
the
New
Speed
Reading
-­‐ The
Boston
Globe."
BostonGlobe.com.
N.p.,
06
Nov.
2015.
Web.
03
Mar.
2017.
Image
Credit:
Kazuend