July 12, 2005

The World *is* Flat

I’m mid-way through Thomas Friedman’s excellent new audiobook The World is Flat. It provides a perfect example of why I love audio learning and why I think it is so important. Here are a couple of (somewhat different) reasons why I feel this way:

1. I would likely never read this book. It’s really long and I just don’t know if I would be able to find the time in the day to get through it. But I’ve been able to crank through the audio version pretty quickly. For instance, I was traveling on Sunday and was able to listen to a few hours while on the plane, waiting for the airport shuttle, etc. Normally that would be time spent being bored or reading crap like the Skymall magazine…

So the fact that I am able to “read” a book that I normally wouldn’t have and that I’ve learned a ton of new stuff and been exposed some very interesting ideas means a lot to me.

2. Friedman’s book makes one of the best cases I’ve seen in a long time for why education is so vitally important right now. The fact of the matter is that countries like China and India are quickly becoming global economic superpowers. These countries have legions of well-educated (and hungry!) youths and we’re already seeing many jobs shift eastward. Here’s a quote I came across today (link) that drives this point home:

“The work is getting done faster and better, Prestowitz argues, because Indians are not only hungrier than we are, but better educated. China, India, Japan and Europe all churn out more science and engineering degrees than we do. Worse — and downright embarrassing — is the state of American education. Globally, our 12th-graders rank only in the 10th percentile in math (that’s 10th percentile, not 10th). Our students also rank first in their assessment of their own performance: we’re not only poorly prepared, we have delusions of grandeur.”

Friedman discusses all of this in greater depth in his audiobook. I’m not one to bemoan the loss of “U.S. jobs” but at the same time I do think it’s important for people here in the United States to step up and realize what could happen if we don’t take continuing education (for everyone!) more seriously.

Education is more important than ever and we’ve got a generation of kids who often (unfortunately) shun books. The great equalizer might be audio and video learning. Children used to listening to their iPod and watching DVDs might find this to be a better and more enjoyable way to learn. That’s what we hope to help enable.

Pick up Friedman’s new book soon. It’s well worth a listen. I’ll promise to post a review here when I’m finished.

June 14, 2005

H.G. Wells

With interest in War of the Worlds at an all time high, we’ve decided you may want to know more about the author of the original book. I just finished an H.G. Wells Author Page for your enjoyment. Believe me, its full of great audio books that shouldn’t be missed. I hadn’t realized Well’s had such an output of continuous classics. I mean you shouldn’t skip any of them; every title is basically world famous, from “The Time Machine” to “The Invisible Man”. So if your interested in War of the Worlds lately, you’ll have to go on and check out more from this guy. Imagine if Bram Stoker had written three books on the scale of Dracula! Again, I can’t believe how many classics Well’s managed to write.

June 1, 2005

I love reading this stuff…

Just read a great article on the growing cult of audio book lovers that is coming out of the wordwork lately. It gives a great rundown on why audio books are becoming more popular lately and how people are reacting to this change in how we consume information. It seems we’re living in a time where spoken word audio is getting to be more in vogue, especially now the mp3 players have made it easier. Take special note of how the article mentions how regular book readers are inclined to marginalize audio books as something less than literate. This sort of thing is going to go away after people realize not only are they retaining the books they hear but they’re also saving time. Anyway, this one is worth taking a look at.

May 27, 2005

Freakonomics

It’s fitting that the first blurb over on Audible.com for Freakonomics was by no less than Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink. Like those two titles, Freakonomics is an interesting journey through some amazing stories and statistics. It doesn’t get into the meat of the issues and while Levitt and Dubner seem to aspire to not much more than impressing us with some cool, real world applications of economics, the result is nonetheless engaging and highly listenable.

If you’re the type of person with a strong logical inclination, you’ll almost certainly fall in love with this book. The reasons why realtors almost always sell their own homes for more and why drug dealers often live with their parents are startling and not soon to be forgotten. Freakonomics will definitely change the way you look at the world. Even though the book lacks a cohesive theme and is a bit self-indulgent at times (Levitt is smart, we get it!) you’ll still find yourself challenged and enlightened by what Levitt and Dubner have to offer.

To find out more about Freakonomics, click here.

May 19, 2005

The Technology Fuels the Service

Read this short story about what’s happening at the Algonquin in New York and consider this: has there ever been a hotel in the history of ever that offered walkmen or a cd boombox in a similar manner? The Ipod’s information dispersal capabilities are becoming more apparent every day. So much so that the device’s popularity is actually INFORMING the way several industries are engineering new business models. I never would have thought about listening to audio books at a hotel, but the chance to try out an ipod and listen to books while I’m on vacation is a great idea. THe only problem is that ipods will get so affordable as the market gets flooded that the freshness seal on a service like this is limited. Then again, when EVERYONE has an ipod, I envision kiosks all over the place where you can jack yourself in and download information on almost every business or service imaginable.

Think about it, not only will you be able to hook up your ipod into the Algonquin terminal and hear a bunch of history on the place, you’ll also be able to go to a museum, mall, park or whatever, download information and use it for whatever purpose you need. Libraries may even be replaced by a huge room of terminals with which people can download their books (or ebooks if you still like reading) directly, and for free. You’ll go to an airport and get automatic downloads of any weather or flight updates you need (which is more convenient then nervously checking a screen every few minutes). We’re living the Will Gibson future more and more every minute of every day. Information will be so available and so portable that the sense of empowerment will be insane!

May 17, 2005

The Idea is Catching On

Looks as though Audible is figuring out what a learning resource spoken word audio can be. I just read this article on the deal they’ve recently struck Pearson Higher Education. The idea is that Audible will be releasing audio versions of their college text book curriculum. This is only the beginning of something that is going to explode on the internet, mark my words.

May 17, 2005

D.T. Suzuki and the Art of Zen

I’ve been very focused on Zen Buddhism this weekend. My tireless efforts have produced two quality entries to the growing list of LearnOutLoud.com awesomeness. The first page I want to mention is the new author entry for D.T. Suzuki. He’s one of the biggest popularizers of Buddhism in the west. Did your brother come back from college one time and drop words like Koan or Satori without explanation? He probably skimmed one of Suzuki’s introductory books and is trying to make you feel inferior. Don’t worry, we can help you bone up. Then again, it isn’t really Zen to learn something for the sole purpose of retaliating a slight to your ego. Food for thought.

Anyway, this entry ties in with the Zen Buddhism topic page I made yesterday as well. If you are wondering what Zen is about or already have read about it and still don’t know what the heck is going on, here’s my stab at it. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I don’t know how easy it is to really write about zen anyway. It isn’t a religion that fits easy description. Nevertheless I will admit I’m personally intrigued and will be adding some of the audio books I found to my must-listen list.

May 11, 2005

New Topics at LOL

Are you in the position to start looking for a new house? Do you want to start renting out apartments? Well, I can’t even begin to fathom such decisions personally, but if you are finding yourself financially flush, you might want to think about investing in something worthwhile. Real Estate seems to be a real safe bet these days and we here at LOL HQ decided to give everyone the leg up with our Real Estate Topic Page. The Topic Pages are sort of like articles designed as a guide to whats available on audio for a given topic of general interest. We’re starting to think up new topics to write about for your listening pleasure and we’re open to requests. Do you have a hobby or topic that you want to know more about on audio or video? Let us do the research man. We’re happy to help and besides, we learn a ton when we make them. So yeah, tell us what you think of these topic pages. There’s only two so far but we’re going to be bringing in alot more this month. You’ll like what we’ve got cooking here, believe me.

May 4, 2005

Dr. Phil McGraw

I just finished a page for one of those guys you hear about, but never take real notice of except for on TV every once in awhile. I don’t exactly know why Dr. Phil hasn’t hit my radar, but he is a big thing for many people and it looks as if he’s been a big help to them. Maybe I’ll have to give him a futher look in the future. He’s sort of physically imposing, I don’t know if I’d be able to be very forthright with him on a sofa. He’s sort of pushy from what I can tell based on one, admittedly distracted viewing of 10 minutes from his TV Show. All kidding aside, I welcome your comments on the author page.

April 26, 2005

A Challenger Arises to Fight Audible

Just did want to notify you all who’s going to be Audible’s main competition in the digital downloading of audio books sector. Media Bay is joining forces with MSN Music to create the largest downloadable audio book fleet this side of Audible‘s union with Apple iTunes.

Media Bay powers their Audio Book Club which is sort of like the clubs you get through Columbia House or BMG Music if you ever got suckered into those.