CD Audio Books
Demand for CD audio books on the rise
Books on tape have been around for years and people continue to enjoy them today. With electronic technology advancing as quickly as it has been, demand for books on CD is steadily growing. They're now the compromise option that people find easiest to integrate into daily life. More and more people are choosing CD audio books over books on tape, a more traditional medium, and directly downloaded audio books, which have only recently entered the market .
Why CD audio books?
Most audio book listeners are commuters. Listening to audio books helps ease commuter stress and make the time pass more quickly. Since CD players are now the standard for most cars, CDs have become the format of choice for audio books. Think about it. When was the last time you saw a recent model car with a tape cassette player?
The sound quality on a CD audio book is noticeably better than that of a cassette. Remember that annoying "hiss" you often hear on a tape cassette? With CD audio books, the narration is clean and clear; there’s no distracting background noise.
If you listen to your audio books at home, you probably know most home entertainment centers have CD players as standard equipment. Electronics manufacturers just aren’t producing as many tape cassette players. There are 2.4 CD players per American household, not to mention all the other latest gadgets we like to collect. Unlike cassettes, you can play your audio books on your computer, DVD and MP3 players.
Many people think you can not continue listening to a CD audio book from the point where you left off. Actually, all recent factory installed car CD players have the ability to bookmark a CD if the car or CD player is turned off. Provided you do not remove the CD, it will automatically return to the point where you stopped. Most CD audiobooks have tracks at regular intervals. All you need to do is remember the track number. With cassettes it turns into a guessing game of forwarding and rewinding.
It is obvious that CDs take up less space than cassettes. Try and fit 10 cassettes in your glove box and you’ll find there’s not much room left for anything else. CDs on the other hand are lighter, slimmer and easier to store than their counterparts. Plus, the cost of CDs is now comparable to cassettes, so it is just as economical to purchase a CD. But why even go through the hassle, when you’ll only listen to it once or twice at most?
Rent or Buy Books on CD
Renting is best for regular audio book users. Audio books usually cost around $30—so if you’re listening to one or more books each month, you could save money while getting more books through an online unlimited rental service. Simply Audiobooks was the first to rent unlimited audio books online, and we’re still going strong.
Buying audio books is best for people who are looking for one or two specific titles, or think they might want to hold on to the books when they’re done.
The good news for audio book shoppers is that audio books are getting less expensive. You can buy audio books on CD online, and get a 20-30% discount off the bookstore price. You can also give books as a gift.
