Saturday, August 6, 2016

Slow Saturday Special: Having the Globe Read to Me

You will have to do it....

"Interest in audiobooks and digital storytelling grows" by Sophie Haigney Globe Correspondent  August 06, 2016

Audiobooks are booming, the result of easier accessibility, lower pricing, aggressive marketing, and a wider embrace of digital audio storytelling

Digital listening — like reading — is now a mobile experience, and that means users can hear their favorite books where ever they want to.

Yeah, who wants to grab a book or anything? 

I mean, why even bother with libraries

Or newspapers for that matter? 

Who gives a damn about having something tangible to touch when it stinks so much? 

Beyond practical enticements, audiobook producers in recent years have also recruited more celebrity narrators.

Like that is going to win me over.

All of this dovetails with a renewed interest in what Donald Katz, CEO and founder of Audible, owned by Amazon.com, calls the “unbridled power of the spoken word,” which is also reflected in the popularity of podcasts.

I've got a few spoken words for.... never mind.

Yeah, you are right; written word is sh**, and I'm looking right at them.

Podcasts have become more and more mainstream, on the heels of wildly successful programs like “Serial,’’ a project that investigated the 1999 murder of a Baltimore high school student.

So that is where it's all at now, huh? 

Thank Christ. Now I can retire. Plenty of blogger radio shows and networks out there for you.

Susan Shipley of Dorchester, who often listens while she knits, sees the rise more as a return than a digital-age innovation, said “Storytelling was originally an oral tradition. All of us love to hear stories.”

Not anymore. I'm sick of the insulting, agenda-pushing, war-promoting distortions and lies of my ma$$ media and pre$$.

--more--"

And there it is again! 

Maybe it is time to finally cancel the $ub$cription.