Who doesn’t love cozying down with a good book now and then? It’s a great way to pass the time and can take you on wonderful adventures in other worlds, or recount amazing lives of people in this one. Even better, there’s little that helps one drift off to sleep as easy as a good book, though the peril exists of being caught up in ‘just one more chapter’ mode. The problem is, you can’t read while you’re driving, or when it’s completely dark, can you? What if you could? Audiobook Month celebrates the invention that made this all possible! The audiobook!
History of Audiobook Month
Almost from the moment that a method of recording the human voice became available, audiobooks have been in existence. When Thomas Edison first invented the phonograph, Phonographic Books were one of the ideas that he had in mind for those who were sight-impaired. Even his first words spoke of this vision, with “Mary had a little lamb” being the first words he spoke into a phonograph. A year later he demonstrated the capacity of the phonograph at the Royal Institution in Britain, where a recorded verse of Tennyson’s poetry was played back for the attendees.
Unfortunately, his original vision wasn’t to be, as the original cylinders used with the phonograph only held about 4 minutes of audio, and even when they switched to the flat platters the duration was only 12 minutes, hardly sufficient for the recording of long chapter books. While the 60-minute cassette developed in the 70’s helped the situation, it wasn’t until the invention of the CD that Audiobooks really came into their own. Audiobook Month celebrates these wonderful tales on tape and the millions of people they aid every year.
How to Celebrate Audiobook Month
Celebrating Audiobook Month is simple, find your favorite book in an audio format and try listening to it on your way to work. You can listen to it while you’re in the shower, or laying in bed, or even riding the bus or driving in the morning. The opportunities are endless, and the types of books you can find on tape are growing every year, from compilations of mythology to books on learning a new language, and even certain forms of technical manuals can all be found in an audio format. What would you like to listen to during Audiobook Month? Start making a list!
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