September 26, 2005

The Main Event: Audio Books vs. Podcasts

Seth and I were talking a bit tonight about the merits of audio books versus podcasts and I thought it might make good fodder for a quick blog entry. I’ll be the first to admit that since podcasts have come on to the scene I listen less to audio books. One reason for that is that running LearnOutLoud requires me to screen a number of podcasts. But that’s not the only reason. Indeed there are some reasons why I’ve gravitated towards podcasts.

First, podcasts are easier to listen to in bite-sized chunks. When you only have 10 or 15 minutes it’s often easier to throw on a podcast and listen to it in its entirety than it is to pick up an audio book mid-stream. I particularly like podcasts that are around the magical 15 minute mark as it’s just about the right amount of time to hold my attention.

Another benefit of podcasts is the ability to have them downloaded automatically. It’s nice to sit down at my computer and see that I’ve got a dozen new podcasts ready to listen to. With audio books I have to go out and download them manually and because of the larger file size it typically takes 10-15 minutes to pull the files down. If the audio book is on CD and I want to move it to my iPod the process is even more involved as I have to rip the CD to my computer first and then transfer it over.

A final benefit of podcasts is their timeliness. There is certain information that is much better consumed right away (e.g., news and current events, sports, etc.) and this is where podcasting shines. Audio books (like books in general) just can’t compete because of the long lead times required for publishing. Podcasting itself is a great example of this. If I had to wait for an audio book about podcasting…well, I’d still be waiting. Yet there are a dozen of podcasts where I can learn about podcasting itself and there have been for some months now.

But this certainly isn’t a one-sided fight as there are several advantages to audio books as well. A primary one is sound quality. I’ve probably only listened to a handful of audio books in the last few years with truly bad sound quality. On the other hand, I think there are only a handful of podcasts out there that have truly excellent sound quality. This will improve over time but for now the “home brew” nature of many podcasts certainly detracts (at least somewhat) from their listenability.

Another advantage of audio books is their longer length. Wait, wasn’t shorter length an advantage of podcasts? The key here is the context in which you’re listening in. If you’re at the gym running at the treadmill it can be a bit annoying to have to change podcasts every 10 minutes. In that context audio books are probably a better bet. The same goes for long car trips. If you have a longer chunk of time to listen in you will likely favor the continuity of audio books.

Finally I think that in general the consistency of audio books is a lot higher. Because they are professionally produced you are more likely to have a good listening experience. Podcasts are much more of a wild card. While I’ve heard some outstanding ones, I’ve also heard some truly terrible ones as well.

In the end it’s a bit of a toss-up and pretty much just depends on what you’re looking for at any given moment. They serve to complement each other and at the same time the competition between podcasters and audio book producers for your listening time will end up improving the quality of each. In the end, we as a listeners will end up being the ultimate winners in this battle.