|
I find it quite useful in terms of continuing a reading project while eating, driving, before falling to sleep (no book light needed), sometimes running on a treadmill. It probably accounts for no more than 5% of the total reading I do but it is nice to have. To the point where I hesitate before purchasing books with TTS disabled and choose a TTS enabled book instead.
I enjoy some audiobooks as well but find I can't work them into my routine as easily as ebooks. Navigation is problematic: the chapter marks are too coarse to use (on order of an hour apart), while the #*$*ˆˆ& thumbwheel on my nano is touchy and requires too much attention to operate accurately. So instead of trying to review something I missed, and losing my place completely, I keep going, and as such it is often hard to maintain the storyline in my head. And often after listening to an audiobook, I wish I had the text to refer to. So it makes me picky about the audiobooks I choose to listen to, to the point where I waste a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to find something on Audible that I want to read, and my credits go unused.
So at least in my case, the publishers who think disabling TTS will buttress audiobook sales are completely mistaken. What I hope becomes available some day is either 1) pay an extra $1 or so for TTS capability on the ebook or 2) bundle the ebook with the audiobook. As it is I'll purchase fewer ebooks and audiobooks from these publishers.
|